Black Phoenix Saga
by Kywraith Amnesi
Summary: CHAPTER ELEVEN [at long last!] The pilots get their first taste of what Mission One will bring. Wufei has a confrontation with Sally that he will regret, Heero finds himself alone with Relena, and Xiran has to watch the bonds she's made fall apart...
1. Exodus

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam characters, they are the copyright of Bandai and Sunrise. The old storyline is also not mine, but everything from the end of EW and on is mine. Xiran, Six, and Certh are all original chars and come from my very own demented imaginings. Please don't flame me if you don't like the pairings or what happens in the story. WARNING: later chapters are not for the faint of heart. (aka SEIGE, not here yet)  
  
Well, have fun reading it! Forgive me for the first chapters, the pilots aren't there until number three. Be patient! I have big plans and ambitions! MWHAHAAA!!  
  
BLACK PHOENIX SAGA  
  
By: Kywraith Amnesi—(Complete SO FAR in seven parts)  
  
* means that the text should be in italics*  
  
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER ONE: EXODUS  
  
The alarm screamed its warning to the computer sensors, its shrieking sound instantly filling her ears until she thought that they would either break or explode. Reacting immediately, she buried a shard of metal in the throat of the alarm, silencing it quickly. But the damage was already done. The damned device had already alerted the entire facility, and now soldiers rushed down its corridors to discover and restrain her. She could hear their feet pounding the metal floor of the experimental facilities' halls. Though the sound was muffled, she could tell that they were still several rooms away, and closing the distance quickly.  
  
"I am one cat you don't want to have cross your path," she said grimly to the empty room, as she set the last explosive.  
  
Test Subject Six of Ten moved quickly and silently through the rooms connected to the Genesis Project, which contained the pain and suffering of so many that the air seemed thick with misery.  
  
The firm pounding at several of the heavy metal doors began, as the soldiers realized that she had jammed all of the doors necessary to access the experimental area. Their bellows forced their way past the heavy metal as if through water; filtered and unintelligible and easily ignored.  
  
Six of Ten wasn't worried about the soldiers because she knew they could not break through the blast doors, which had been built with heavy sheets of Gundanium. She was worried if the scientists, who had no doubt been alerted to the problem already, were intelligent enough to figure out her plan. They knew more than anyone else about what she was capable of, but even they hadn't thought she would do something like this, or they would have taken much better precautions.  
  
She backtracked through the explosive lined rooms; most of them flickering because she had damaged the light fixtures when she had disarmed the alarms. Even in the disorienting strobe lights, she could move as fast as a darting shadow, and her dark blue feline eyes caught the bursts of light in their round orbs as she moved with unnatural speed towards the airlock.  
  
The last room caught her attention, as it always had, but this time her feelings were sharp and bittersweet, cutting her like glass shards. It was labeled One to Ten, and the stench of death emanated from it in a solid wave, drowning out all other senses in its heavy, disgustingly sweet musk.  
  
Six of Ten's steps faltered ever so slightly as she passed the room; her ears immersed in its dead silence, her nose full of its unbearable scent, and her eyes plunged in its dark scene.  
  
The still snapshot would live in her mind forever: the dried blood spattering the walls, the deep sticky pools which embraced everything they touched in red, and the broken forms laying on the hard steel floor, their wasted frames engraved with crimson clawmarks.  
  
Six of Ten clenched her fists as a gush of agony and rage filled her mind and body, licking at her self control with a dark hungry tongue, tempting her to succumb to the urge which would consume her.  
  
KILL THEM ALL! THEY DESERVE TO DIE FOR WHAT THEY DID. DESTROY THEM!  
  
No! No more death. Even after… She stopped, her hands trembling as she looked down at the clots of hair and skin and bone and blood jammed beneath her nails. Half remembered shrieks played faintly in the back of her brain… they weren't meant to live, it wasn't fair, but their agony had to be stopped …  
  
A hard wall slammed up in her mind.  
  
* You will have time for this later. Move now or you won't escape!*  
  
Six of Ten gathered herself quickly and took off towards the airlock, to her last remaining companion. She reached the last room and loaded herself up with weapons and ammunition, in case the soldiers had blocked her path. The detonation device fitted securely in her pocket, where she could easily reach it, and as she prepared to open the airlock door she touched it. You will be the device which will carry out justice  
  
(my revenge)  
  
and leave this place of torment in ruins. Don't fail me now, she thought as the airlock door shuddered open, and she stepped out of its maw into the colossal war chamber, fully prepared to meet with an armed ambush. Her hands were on her guns, on a hair trigger, her muscles tight and ready for what could be waiting--  
  
Nothing.  
  
The area was vacant of all life, except for the towering forms of the mobile suits. Six of Ten let out a mental sigh of relief. She sealed the airlock behind her and began the rush towards her mobile suit- to freedom, her ultimate goal--  
  
"FREEZE!"  
  
A voice bellowed the warning. As she half-turned, she heard the metallic click of a gun prepared to fire, and the sound of boots pounding across the floor towards her.  
  
Shit.  
  
Several things rushed through her mind at once. Strategies, escape routes, how long she would have before they brought down the reinforcements. In an instant, the familiar ice-cold surge of emotionlessness had filled her mind. She took in the whole room in one glance, calculating her ammo amounts, her explosives and the safety of the surrounding mecha as soldiers filled the doorways, blocking her exits.  
  
*You dare to interfere? You don't even know what you are fighting for. Soldiers, our paths have brought us to this moment but it is I who will choose whether or not you will step beyond the crossroads. My mission will not wait.  
  
For what it is worth, I regret what I may be forced to do.*  
  
These thoughts lasted for less than half a second. Six of Ten was ready. Thirty soldiers had entered the room to prevent her escape, and she stood alone. She gritted her teeth. You will not stop me.  
  
Six of Ten's eyes filled with darkness.  
  
Thirty soldiers.  
  
*Take them out.*  
  
Six of Ten turned in mid stride to face the oncoming soldiers, and threw an explosive into their ranks as she opened fire. She was behind a protective MD heel before they had a chance to retaliate, discarding her smoking automatics on the floor as the bomb exploded, giving her time to grasp a fresh new pair. Her mind focused solely on the battle as she moved to carry out her strategies, moving smoothly and accurately.  
  
Dodge across to another mecha heel, fire, reload, throw an explosive, detonate.  
  
* Destroy the enemy.*  
  
Through the haze of combat, she dimly heard screams as she fired, but she didn't react, even when blood and gore rained down on her and spattered her face with warm crimson.  
  
They crossed me and I destroyed them, she thought dully as she decapitated a young man with brown eyes, and blew apart the blonde soldier behind him with two shots from her energy weapon.  
  
Death comes on swift wings to those who cross me.  
  
Pain penetrated the red veil over her mind as a bullet slammed into her left shoulder. Mechanically she carried on, the hellish noise of screams and automatic fire drowning out the agony. A metallic, coppery taste was in her mouth as she leapt from behind an MD into the air, tossing a small metal box onto the cargo container the soldiers were using for cover. The hard click of its impact had barely sounded before the deep roar of the explosion filled the room with its heat. Six of Ten felt the warmth on her face like a slap as she landed, rolled, reloaded and sent bullets flying into the still billowing red area of the explosion, where she knew some soldiers would still be hiding, scattered and unprotected.  
  
Just as expected, several rose and tried to make a break for new cover. She fired.  
  
Trying not to see the sad, distorted features of one of the soldiers, she averted her blue gaze from the woman's face and focused on the navy of her uniform, which was darker in an uneven spot around her chest.  
  
Six of Ten shook herself and narrowed her eyes, centering her attention once more on the uniforms which still moved in the war chamber. The harsh metallic chatter of her weapon filled her mind as new strategies took shape in her head, and she acted swiftly. There were still too many soldiers in the room for her to escape and she was running out of time.  
  
Bullets impacted the mobile suit heel she stood behind and she launched an explosive outwards to provide a fire screen. By the time it had detonated in a swirl of yellow and orange she had moved and was firing again. Seconds passed with the pounding of grey shells into metal and flesh.  
  
Dimly she considered the inexperience of the ones she fired on, that so many of them could not take her down, but quickly let it pass from her mind. They were in her way.  
  
Abruptly Six of Ten saw the reinforcements arrive in a cloud of navy-blue. Bitterly she thought, I'm lost now, and turned to make a last assault. At the same time she saw an opening appear in the ocean of fallen soldiers and those still struggling to bring her down.  
  
She moved for it, unleashing all of her explosives in a final desperate attempt to clear herself a path. The orange fire erupting in front of her provided cover as well as consuming all who stood directly in her way, and she reached her destination in a blur of upward movement.  
  
Phoenix, she thought gratefully. Suddenly surrounded by familiar electronics, she extended her awareness throughout the computer sensors.  
  
The huge hand of the mobile suit moved and drew its lightwhip, activating it with a deadly hum.  
  
Now, Six of Ten thought, now you will feel my wrath.  
  
Great red explosions blossomed before her eyes, filling the room with their heat and their flame and their destruction. The soldiers were lost amid the fireballs, their lives snuffed out like small candles in a high wind. She couldn't even hear their cries through the heavy metal that was Phoenix. The sizzling energy of the lightwhip uncurled and snapped at the unprotected mobile suits, as a few brave soldiers attempted to activate them. They disintegrated in the crushing force of the multiple explosions, carried out of the world on a crest of blood red flame.  
  
*Destroy them. They deserve it. They follow the scientists.*  
  
Six of Ten's navy eyes roiled with darkness, their black opacity reflecting each bloody burst of light from the main ion cannon as it roared energy into the scattered ranks of soldiers. Explosions detonated around her with deep snarls that vibrated the cockpit, but there were so many that she could no longer distinguish one from the next. The reverberating noise filled her brain with whispers that were all too familiar.  
  
They were of war.  
  
War……?  
  
A face suddenly appeared in front of hers, a memory flashing across her mind's eye and breaking the killing rage. It was a kind face, with light brown eyes, short blond hair, and a soft mouth which looked like a smile lay just beneath the surface, ready to rise at any moment.  
  
Three of Ten! She thought brokenly, as her heart wrenched at the sight. She remembered his gentleness, his patience, and his appreciation for the beauty he saw everywhere, even in a place of tests and torment. She clenched her eyes shut.  
  
Outside, the remaining soldiers on the ground saw the mobile suit slow suddenly, then stop as her awareness withdrew from the systems.  
  
She suddenly looked down , saw the blood smeared on the cockpit, the controls, the walls…and herself. Repulsion filled her as she saw the terrible evidence of her actions. Her consciousness struggled to get as far away from herself as possible, not wanting to believe.  
  
No this isn't me it isn't me…  
  
Almost sobbing, she raked her claws down the curves of her body, trying desperately to rid herself of the horrible red stain. How could she have done this, after how she had changed?  
  
Oh Three- this is what you tried to steer me from, she thought in horror, just as white cracks spider-webbed across her mind's eye with a hollow roar. Some part of her cried out in despair as she thought,  
  
*I'm not even human. I'm a killing machine. A monster!*  
  
Six of Ten threw her head back and fell into a swirling darkness that reached up and flung her conciousness into a black abyss. Straining with every fiber in her soul she sent herself down into it, unable to bear the burden of countless lives destroyed by her own hands. Her cries echoed far down into the depths of her own mind, shattering her like glass and carrying the shards away into a blackness she knew all too well.  
  
*I don't want to face this-  
  
just pull yourself together-  
  
I don't know if I want to-  
  
there is no choice just DO IT.  
  
Focus, focus, focus…focus….*  
  
Suddenly she came back together and reformed, broken but whole, as all the mingling voices condensed together to form the one of a lost little girl who had no one and nothing except battle…  
  
*Oh Three I'm so lost without you  
  
I miss your smile…everything about you  
  
I'm so alone I hate being alone …alone alone ALONE  
  
HATE IT  
  
I'll kill them, rend them with my own two hands I'll make them pay for what they did to you-  
  
to me  
  
to the others.  
  
oh three I killed them I had to- I ripped them tore them sliced them with my claws --they couldn't even defend themselves  
  
it was a massacre—MURDERER  
  
NO I don't want to know this !  
  
I let you down I'm sorry, so sorry  
  
(I hate myself )  
  
why this pain?  
  
Because of them its their fault- they made us.  
  
that's just an excuse. it may have been their beginning but I carried out the deed  
  
its my fault. Mine alone.( And I don't know if I can bear the guilt.)  
  
now all of them are gone even you, Three--please please come back to me I can't stand this—  
  
I'm sorry I'm so weak. I couldn't save you… from the scientists  
  
The bastards. I'll make them pay for their crimes… I'm going to destroy this place—this hell where I have killed and cried and suffered and screamed—I'm screaming still  
  
in this darkness  
  
there is no one to help me  
  
please I'm  
  
lost  
  
lost  
  
lost  
  
shrieking in this blank black space  
  
just shrieking  
  
there is nothing else for me….*  
  
  
  
When she came back to herself she was drifting in the cold silence of space, just outside the facility's main airlock. Her mind was ice, utterly calm and unfeeling after the events inside the war room. The silence filled her ears like water, so that everything was strangely quiet. Even Phoenix was still around her as they gently turned in star spattered darkness. Waiting.  
  
Suddenly the earth spun into view, like a huge blue green jewel, slowly spinning in the isolation of space. The brilliant blue oceans winked in the far light of the sun, as great expanses of lazy white cloud curled around the enormous sphere, covering the lush green of the broken continents. It seemed so peaceful, just existing there, breathing like a living being as it circulated air and water and life.  
  
It was hard to believe such suffering came from such a seemingly perfect planet, that countless wars and battles had risen and fallen there, generating more agony than could ever be judged.  
  
This is where humanity exists, she thought, sitting in a sullied pool of greed, murder, pain, and war…  
  
yet surrounded by beauty. Strange, how can they possibly deserve that?  
  
But even the earth's loveliness had begun to fade, perhaps because it was unable to live with the knowledge that such abominable creatures lived upon its surface, spreading pollution and hate.  
  
Why do they always return to war? Will it never stop?  
  
The earth slid from her view, replaced by the blank space taken up by the cloaked and silent experimental facility. Six of Ten regarded it with cold contempt. It was a huge mechanical monstrosity that no one would ever see, even as it hovered near earth, but she knew its metal hallways and corridors like no one else would.  
  
Except Arcon.  
  
Six of Ten's dark eyes hardened. The mobile suit activated around her, powering its space thrusters, weapons and invisibility cloak . Although she knew she couldn't bring down the facility by herself, and that the time she had to escape undetected was dwindling, she toyed with the idea of making an all out assault.  
  
Then she pulled out the explosive detonator. Once more she cast her eyes to the space where she knew the facility floated, seeing only the bright white stars that existed on the other side of it.  
  
You can't hide from me, she thought flatly.  
  
Six of Ten maneuvered Phoenix about so that she could monitor the effects of the explosives, thinking how she wished Three of Ten was here to witness the fulfillment of the first step of the plan. She set her fingers over the detonator switch.  
  
This will be the beginning of the end.  
  
For a moment his face was before hers. She shut her eyes tightly, then flashed them open again, their blue depths stirring with purpose. Then her face closed, becoming a soldier's hard mask as her gaze darkened and became deadly cold.  
  
Six of Ten raised the detonator.  
  
"Burn."  
  
She unleashed the demon.  
  
Inside the experimental part of the facility, the small activator lights on each explosive blinked once and turned red, as chemicals mixed and energies fused together to bring forth the crushing explosion.  
  
The initial sound was like a dead impact on the air, like the sound of a brick hitting a pillow, but the incredible force of it rippled the metallic grey walls with a muted rumbling that amplified until it was a bellowing roar. The invisible force of the shockwave ripped the panels of metal like paper in a storm, tossing them back as the explosives gave birth. The panels tattered and tore in an instant as red fire rushed down the halls and overtook them, their colour rising from blue grey to a blistering yellow that twisted their fragments into distorted shapes. The demon filled the halls and rooms and corridors of the facility in its bright blazing flame, changing the very colour of the air into red-orange as its rage scalded the hard metal halls. The computers, files, and testing equipment were consumed and digested in a matter of seconds, the silvery solids shattering then dripping grey rain to the scorched floor. Nothing was spared as the fireball expanded to fill all the rooms in the experimental area, but its hunger was insatiable. The red fire pushed at the exits to the area with all the strength it could muster, seeking to consume the entire facility. The barriers of grey Gundanium sagged as the demon hurled itself against them but would not give, even as it threw its full force against them, roaring in fury.  
  
Six of Ten saw sudden bursts of red mushroom outwards from a seemingly blank area in space, bright light flashing across the eternal night with a faraway roar like a thundercloud. The angry red glow spread like veins from an invisible heart, branching off into linear lines. She could suddenly see a part of the spacecraft outlined in faint crimson as the explosion ripped its insides out with claws of flame.  
  
Six of Ten calmly calculated by the size of the blasts that all of the explosives had gone off.  
  
She felt strangely hollow as the explosion did its work, destroying all that she could ever call home, but there was nothing else. Six of Ten thought, how odd that my time of triumph should come when I am utterly barren.  
  
Then she shrugged mentally, thinking, victory is overrated, and turned away from the death of her birthplace .  
  
As the demon's flame extinguished at her back she launched into the earth's orbit, her mobile suit still cloaked from radar. The soft drifting clouds filled her vision with whiteness as Phoenix flew closer and closer to the great sphere, until the glow of atmosphere penetration tinted them red. The insistent pressure of the mobile suit's forward movement forced her back into her seat with a soothing hand, and she let herself relax, contemplating the events ahead.  
  
Then it hit her that a part of her life had turned over like a monstrous page, and that she was no longer chained to the facility, which had claimed all sixteen years of her life. The earth was where she would begin the second chapter of her existence, but it could not be said whether the second would be better than the first. Then again, anything could be better than living like a lab rat.  
  
I will be reborn like the phoenix…  
  
The fire of entering the atmosphere flared up, the harsh tongues fluttering like wind-blown grass in a bloody sunset. The light flashed upon her face and faintly pressed it with heat, as fire filled the view from the mobile suit's cockpit. Six of Ten thought longingly,  
  
Yes burn me, scorch me, make me whole again….  
  
and closed her eyes as Black Phoenix streaked like a shooting star towards the planet.  
  
END  
  
Oh man…I look back on this chapter and it hurts me. I hate my earlier stuff. But eh, I've gotta move on to bigger and better things like the stuff ahead. This chapter sure was fun to write though! I thought it might be an interesting way to introduce Six's character. Don't be confused when the story takes a new turn in the next chap though… 


	2. Glass

CHAPTER TWO: THROUGH THE GLASS  
  
The warm yellow glow of the overhanging lamps reflected golden quarter moons in the empty shot glasses on the table, as one more joined the group with a thud and a clink. The man holding the cone shaped container did not bounce the light back as the glasses did; his dark hair and eyes seemed to take the colour and make it part of their rich blackness.  
  
He called loudly to the waitress to bring him some more as he downed the last vodka shot, relishing the heavy taste. Since he was a regular, the amber haired waitress responded immediately, and brought five clear glasses to his table.  
  
It was a large corner booth, built like a square with one side missing, and the large seats had soft brown fabric laid over top the honey coloured wood. The table in the center of the booth was huge and the long bench- like seats could hold at least eight people, so it was obvious he was waiting for friends to arrive.  
  
Observing this, the waitress said brightly, "I see you're waiting for your buddies to get here. Did you schedule the time differently this week? Or did ya just get here early?"  
  
The man grinned widely, his white teeth faintly shining in the dull glow, and said slowly,  
  
"Well, my car just got a little tune up and I was testing out the new wheels, so I got here a bit sooner than I usually do. The guys'll be here in a little while, and then we'll have some fun eh?" He grinned again, his dark eyes flashing and traveling around the room to something at her back.  
  
The waitress finished setting the glasses down, and smiled off handedly as she turned to leave. Her mouth almost slipped sideways as she noticed his eyes on her again. She unsteadily met his dark gaze, its intensity causing her voice to tremor when she said,  
  
"I'll be your waitress for the rest of this evening, so don't be afrai-" there was sudden pressure on her arm. She looked down at his fingers on her wrist, at the size of them, and at his bulging biceps beneath his shirt. He was grinning again. She continued haltingly, "-a--afraid to call on me," and slowly pulled back on her arm, trying to remove her wrist from his grip.  
  
His fingers tightened. She froze, and raised her eyes to his face. The smile was gone as if it had never been, and his features were suddenly sharp and angular in the yellow light. The waitress's face was white, and she was thinking, "I'm going to scream if he doesn't let go, I will, and then the bouncer will come and kick him out and—" Then she was stepping back, free of his grasp, and breathing hard.  
  
The grin was back in place on his face, and she was abruptly sickened. Under his stare, she felt like a deer in the headlights of a truck on an icy road, and she quickly turned on her heel to serve a young woman sitting at the bar counter.  
  
The man watched her go, chuckling to himself at the look on her face. He saw her tray tremble as she moved to serve the other chick at the bar, and grinned. The young woman took a shot glass from the tray, and sipped it while exchanging some pleasantries with the waitress. During the short conversation, her face remained blank, betraying no emotion except at the end, when she tossed a glance his way. Then her expression darkened ever so slightly. Its subtle change sparked his interest.  
  
He checked her over slowly, admiring her firm legs and ass. His black eyes rose, taking in her entire body as he gulped another shot of straight vodka. Her thick hair was caught up in a spiky twist of some sort, and her long bangs fell over her face, almost covering the dark blue of her large, slightly slanted eyes. The colour of her hair also intrigued him, for it was like the ocean at midnight, with a maroon tint that was very unusual. Overall, she was a babe, and young too, almost too young to be in the bar, but that was even better. She shifted on her stool, and the man paused. There was something about her, in the manner she carried herself, and the careless grace in the way she sat that made him think of cats. She was almost feline. Well, he thought, isn't that just…neat.  
  
The chick had come in alone just after he had arrived and taken her place at the bar counter on one of the tall brown stools. She had remained there until now, and since it didn't seem like she was waiting for someone the man got up and moved to the stool next to her.  
  
By this time, the waitress had gone away to serve other customers, and she was completely alone. Vulnerable.  
  
The man had brought a glass from his table, and loudly asked the bartender to come over and give him a bottle. The bartender paused and looked him over warily, considering his alcohol level, then shrugged. Hey, if the guy was gonna pay for it, he was gonna get it. The bottle was put down, and cash was exchanged. The woman continued to ignore him.  
  
"Hey. Are you new around here? I haven't noticed you before, because I know I would have." He smiled, the same smile he had given the waitress with amber hair. It was wide and warm and intense, glimmering with teeth.  
  
"What's you name? If you'd like I'll share my bottle with you, and we can have a little party before the guys get here. They'll all be jealous that I got to you first." He leaned close to her as he said the last sentence, pitching his voice low as if they were fellow conspirators.  
  
She glanced at him through her bangs, her eyes like glass, and said quietly,  
  
"My name is Xiran." The sentence was clipped and short.  
  
The man grinned anyway and passed her the bottle, making sure to put his arm where she could see the muscleclature. As if she hadn't seen the movement, Xiran downed the rest of her glass, setting it back on the counter. He filled it again from the bottle. Moving closer to her, he went to put his arm around her shoulders, saying, "Me and my pals, we'll show you the ropes of this joint, and then maybe after we can go and check out my car…" She shrugged him off, and moved her stool away, her eyes like dark chips of ice.  
  
"Leave me be," she said quietly, and turned her face away from him.  
  
He was suddenly irritated. Who did she think she was?  
  
"Aw, come on, you don't really mean that. All the girls around here know that the only way to have a good time is with me." There was an underlying meaning to his words, and his too wide smile, but she offered no response. Her back remained turned to him.  
  
Anger suddenly surged through him. He grasped her arms and turned her to face him, his nostrils flaring and blowing hot, alcohol-scented breath in her face. The stool made a harsh scraping sound as he leaned forward. Almost smirking, he said, "Oh, I know you're a party babe, Xiran. You're just asking for it, from every guy in this room, playing us with this cold shoulder act, but I know you want it. You want it bad. And I'm the one whose goin' to give it to you."  
  
Xiran faced him squarely, her face as unchanged as ever, noticing how close he was to breaking. He was powerful, like a bull, contained in one instant then out of control in the next, depending on how his temper surged. The alcohol had loosened his power over his anger, which made him a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any instant.  
  
Raising her chin, she said evenly, "You're not very intelligent if you think you're going to get anywhere with this." She was perversely tempted to add on the term, "idiot", but figured it would drive him right over the edge. As it was, heat rose in his face, and his eyes became slitted with rage. His anger choked him, so that he could not speak, and he painfully gripped her arms, on the verge of exploding.  
  
Xiran's gaze drove into him, daring him to make a move. He roughly shoved his face close to hers, trembling with anger and within a sliver of screaming obscenities. She stared him full in the face, and whispered, "Do you really need me to say 'no' out loud?"  
  
The man's control broke like a volcano erupting, and flooded every cell and nerve with rage, as his overall body temperature rose like a reactive chemical, ready to burst into flames.  
  
Simultaneously on the other side of the room, two people stood up, ready to intervene, as the man's rage gave sudden savage birth to violence.  
  
Xiran read his intent before he could make a move, thought, oh don't try that with me, but realized that that just was what he was going to do.  
  
As he drew back his huge hand to strike her, her eyes became as cold and hard as dark sapphires. She said, "Obviously you can't tell a housecat from a tiger," and swiftly ducked his oncoming blow. Her knee was buried in his stomach before he had time to think about a second punch, and her lighting fast kick pounded his brain inside his skull. He doubled over in pain, a shocked expression beginning to form on his features, before her knee exploded onto his face and rearranged it. He screamed like a little girl as blood spurted from his nose and spattered onto the floor, and had time to draw up his hand to staunch it before the rest of him joined it with a heavy thud.  
  
"Bitch," he said thickly, as he choked on his own blood. He rose slowly to his feet, his muscled bulk seeming to fill the room, as he remained clutching his shattered nose which still gushed blood down his face and front. He looked down at the red on the floor, on his shirt and hand, thought disbelievingly-  
  
my blood -  
  
and half-raised his head, his eyes flat and clouded with a burning rage barely kept in check. It strained on its mental leash like a mad pit bull, growling and gibbering and snarling. He rounded on the insolent wench like an animal infected with rabies, as his hunger for violence rose like bubbles in the boiling tar pit of his eyes.  
  
She couldn't defy him like that, the bitch, he'd make her scream and struggle and cry and watch the defiance drain from her eyes. He'd replace it with quivering fear. Yes, she'd see her mistake. In the end, she'd beg him for it, plead and grovel to him. Her soft mouth would form a trembling circle as she realized her defeat. And his triumph.  
  
Yes.  
  
He let a bloody grin split his lips. He could see it, smell it, feel her struggle beneath him as she felt his power. He lifted his head, let his hand fall away from his face and raised his eyes to where she stood, only a few strides away. Utterly confident now, he lifted his stare to her face.  
  
He froze as he looked into her two shining blue eyes, as huge and cold as the reaches of interstellar space, beyond the reach of light from the nearest star, dark as death and consuming as twin black holes.  
  
His smile slipped off his face and hit the bloodied ground between them.  
  
In that brief instant of surprise, she moved. Suddenly he was in her grip with his arms locked behind him, her body pressed close to his. Then he felt the hard nudge of her gun in his back. His breath caught in a long, breathless moment of absolute terror.  
  
"Give me an excuse to kill you," she said very, very softly. She suddenly released him, stepping back to the counter. She turned her burning blue gaze back to the bar and her drink.  
  
The man exhaled a trembling sigh as he looked down at himself, half expecting to find a bullet hole torn out of his chest, and looked fearfully in her direction, the whites showing all around his eyes. As he watched she sat down at her bar stool and took a sip of vodka, totally relaxed and nonchalant, as if nothing had happened. Calmly she took the clear bottle sitting near her and poured herself some more, the liquid glugging as it filled her glass. Then she turned her head slightly to the side, and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, her gaze glittering like that of a cat who knows that her prey is near.  
  
The man broke his frozen posture and backed away, his nose still dripping and his reputation going down the drain. Some idiot snickered as he stumbled into a chair.  
  
He didn't care. Fear thrummed through his entire frame, every instinct telling him to get as far away from her as possible.  
  
"Demon!" he muttered to himself, and almost heard the dry rustle of feathers in his mind. Even though he was halfway across the room and still backing up, she heard him, and a shadow of a smile crossed her face. The sight of it filled him with fear, and he turned and stumbled quickly out of the bar into the night.  
  
He moved through the dark like a person half awake as he shuffled awkwardly away from the glowing lights of the bar. His thoughts tumbled chaotically over each other. Fluttering fragments of past were tossed to the surface of his already confused thoughts, mixing and churning with the events of the past few minutes.  
  
Her controlled, even voice filling his head.  
  
"Leave me be."  
  
"You're not very intelligent if you think you're going to get anywhere with this."  
  
"Obviously you can't tell a housecat from a tiger."  
  
And a voice thrown down a dark stairwell, "You little shit! Stay down there until you learn some respect for your elders!" A small thing crying in the bruised blackness, saying, "I'm sorry Daddy, so sorry just let me come back up…I'm scared of the dark." Sour breath in his face, whispering, yes you'll learn whelp, by God you will. There is no fear except that which you stir in others.  
  
Rage always rage, so much of it…  
  
Listen to me, brat! Never again let me hear you say you're scared. Never!  
  
Then harsh, smacking sounds blending with the scent of salt tears in the darkness…  
  
He swiftly turned away from those memories, forced them back hard, and tried to focus his dazed mind.  
  
Who was she? How did she beat me like that? Then his anger filled him again, and he welcomed it, for its control and its burning assurance of who he was. A master. Yes, he would go back to the bar, and he would show her, the wench, he'd show her just how wrong she had been to refuse him.  
  
I am Darus and no person--no woman-- will ever defy me.  
  
Darus turned unthinkingly back in the direction of the bar, his mind dull and full of a slow burning rage. Dark bleary shapes passed in his vision and he faintly heard a sound of warning. Surprised, he turned, his mind still enclosed in a deep fog, and saw the bright hellish light of the stars, just in time to see it envelope him in a brief inferno. Dizzily he thought, how can light be so hard, as something slammed up against his body and threw him into the air. Light splintered across dark, shattering him like a mass of matchsticks, and in that instant the agony completely consumed his mind in darkness. Somewhere, someone was screaming.  
  
Is that me?  
  
Darus felt his broken shell impact the pavement, making a sound like steak slapping a butcher's board, and slowly trickled out of its crushing pain into the night. As his final link with the world stretched and strained, he thought vaguely, Xiran you got what you wanted, and heard once again the whisper of ebony feathers….  
  
Snap.  
  
Xiran turned her head slightly as she caught the scent of blood. Another quick taste of the air confirmed that it was the man who had tried to pick her up.  
  
She shrugged. He had deserved his death; she had smelled the fear and destruction of many others on him. Besting him in single combat was merely his pride going before his fall. And besides, he was interfering. Xiran drank deeply and returned her gaze to where it had been resting before she had been so rudely interrupted.  
  
Behind her, an employee bent to clean up the mess on the floor. And outside, several blocks away, a truck driver stood in shock over a bloody smear on the highway, as the wail of sirens grew louder in his ears. The man put a hand over his face, and said, "He just darted out into the road…it was like he didn't even hear the horn…"  
  
The warm colour of the dirty wood of the bar counter was heavily worn with chips and dents from many years. Its erratic patterns kept her eyes occupied as she extended her hearing outwards, into the layers of softly muttered words and sentences that filled the atmosphere of the bar.  
  
Conversation hesitantly started building up, in a quiet murmur, but her attention was focused entirely on the two young men in the corner booth. One of them was laughing hysterically.  
  
Xiran grinned involuntarily as she watched the animated young man, and noticed with extreme interest that he wore his hair in long braid down his back. She moved her eyes to his face, which was almost covered by his spiky brown bangs, then shifted her stare to the other young man. He was Asian and had his jet black hair drawn back in a short ponytail, allowing her to see his piercing dark brown eyes. He seemed much more reserved than his companion, almost brooding, but his face was lit by a small smile.  
  
Just then a smaller young man quietly entered the bar and stepped up to their table, his light blond hair catching the dim light of the bar fixtures. He was exuberantly greeted by the brown haired boy, who leaped up, braid flying, and embraced him. They started up an exited conversation, grinning as they turned and sat down again at the table.  
  
They seemed to be waiting for something, but she didn't know what. She listened very closely as they talked, trying to discover if these young men were indeed the ones she had been looking for.  
  
Xiran heard the names Duo, Quatre, and Wufei, turned her head back to the bar, and said to herself,  
  
"I've found them."  
  
END  
  
This one was fun to write too, and didn't take me half as long as the first one. It's fun making 'bad' people. I've also been anticipating the appearance of the pilots, and now they're here! Yeah! 


	3. Connections

CHAPTER THREE: CONNECTIONS  
  
Xiran noticed the Asian boy looking at her, his face unreadable in the dull lights, and his brown eyes dark. For a moment, their eyes caught each other's gaze in fierce electricity. They both looked away, Xiran back to the bar and him back to his friends.  
  
That must be Wufei, Xiran thought. Considering the situation, she absently rolled her shot glass in her fingers. Now that she had them at her fingertips, how was she going to make contact?  
  
She stared hard at a dark groove in the bar counter, as if it could tell her what to do, and pondered what she could say. Suddenly there was a light tap on her right shoulder. She turned, a little sharply, to regard the grinning face of the braided young man, who was standing just behind her. He scratched his head a little sheepishly. "Yah hi, me and my friends over there, we saw the whole little episode and we were sorta wondering if you were okay, you know, if the guy had hurt you or anything…though I'm sure you can take care of yourself…" There was a slight uncomfortable pause. "Oh, and my name's Duo Maxwell, in case you were wondering." His hair scratching hand came down and extended itself towards her, as his blue violet eyes opened wide and focused on her face.  
  
Duo. Pilot of the Deathscythe Hell.  
  
For a moment she was unsure which emotion she should bring to the surface. Ignoring her better judgment she let a smile dawn on her face. Xiran took his hand in a sure grip and shook it, slipping off her stool to greet him properly.  
  
"I'm Xiran. Xiran Ki'Era. I thank you very much for caring about me, but I'm fine, really." Inwardly she cringed at her own stupidity, but ploughed onward. "It's great to meet you. I had almost given up hope of people looking out for each other in this day and age."  
  
"Yah well, I guess not everyone's as special as I am," he said, grinning good-naturedly.  
  
Xiran smothered a laugh. "No, I don't think anyone's quite like you, Duo."  
  
He chuckled, throwing a glance back at his table, and said, "That's what Wufei says too, though his answer is usually a little more sarcastic."  
  
She also looked to where Wufei sat, elbows forward on the table, and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
Looking a little embarrassed, he said, "Well, sure, and he's really a nice guy besides all that…"  
  
Xiran assured him with a quick smile, and said easily, "I believe you, don't worry about it. Well, I still think you all deserve a round of something for having the courtesy to care about a lone girl in a bar."  
  
Duo perked up immediately, and after a couple of moments of deliberation, decided on key lime Jell-O. She agreed, saying, "Gelatin it is. I'll get the waiter to send it over to the table."  
  
"Well…allright. If you* insist.*"  
  
Xiran thought in amusement, you are so priceless Duo Maxwell. The expressions on your face are worth a thousand desserts. She said firmly, "I do."  
  
After this short exchange, Duo fairly bounced back to the table, with Xiran in tow. She introduced herself to a gently smiling Quatre, and then to a silent, expressionless Wufei. His grip was firm when she shook his hand, but his expression did not change at all, even in the face of her warm smile. Obviously it took more than a handshake and a dessert to thaw him. Wufei, your reputation precedes you, she thought a bit dryly.  
  
Duo slid in beside Quatre, and invited her to sit as well. Then he turned to a slightly surprised Wufei, and said, "Hey guys, this lady is going to buy us a round of Jell-O for our heroics! So be nice." This last part he directed specifically at Wufei, who crossed his arms and gave him a thinly veiled glare.  
  
Xiran almosts laughed again, but managed to turn it into an odd sounding cough as she raised her hand to call the waitress over.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
He didn't want to be here. It almost stirred too many painful memories to be around them, but it was still good to get together. He had hoped for a fairly serious night of planning and conversation, but somehow they had managed to get mixed up in this mess with the maroon haired girl. It had started out all right--she had looked like she was being threatened by a huge man at the bar (who was probably a redneck from a satanic football cult in the wilderness) and they had thought to intervene. Instead, she had taken care of the problem herself, which had been very surprising. Duo, of course, had gotten it into his head that they should check up on her to see if she was okay. Wufei thought privately that Duo thought she was hot and just wanted to flirt with her, but he didn't say anything.  
  
Much to Wufei's annoyance, after verifying that she was fine, Duo had brought the girl back to the table, where she would be sure to disrupt any chance of serious talk. There was no chance of conversational distractions now, at least until the others came.  
  
Duo was now chattering to the girl, who either enjoyed it or didn't have the heart to say no. Either way, Wufei couldn't tell. And he didn't care. Now Duo wouldn't babble to him, and he could bide his time and wait for the others. At least they could appreciate the value of SILENCE.  
  
Wufei spent several minutes staring at the ceiling and counting the beams in the rafters before grudgingly deciding that he might as well make an effort to get to know her, since she was going to be sticking around for the rest of the night. He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward into the yellowish light.  
  
She was talking with Quatre about some mindless topic, probably about something on the fashion runways… Wufei cringed inwardly as he thought that last sentence. He didn't really mean to be so hard on Quatre…or Duo, but--  
  
"—so what do you think, Wufei?"  
  
He looked up quickly. "About what?"  
  
"About space exploration and colonizing other planets."  
  
"Oh…" Wufei paused and let his mind race along the pathways of interstellar space exploration. He considered asking why they were thinking of that, then decided against it. He didn't want to know. He sifted through more information in his brain, then said slowly, "Well, the subject is vague so I can't give a really precise answer, but I think this: it works on the same principle as the rebellion of the colonies and the earth's corruption. The greater power would seek to dominate the weaker one. The original inhabitants, if they had lesser intellect, would in all likelihood be enslaved and the earth would take advantage of their helplessness. They would be overpowered and their rights revoked. Eventually this would lead to resistance movements, and loss of life. Reform groups or rebellious alliances from the earth's side would also join in the fight, and once more we would have war, on technological, moral, and personal levels. If the situation were reversed, then humanity would be in a serious rut. So, no, I don't support colonization, for many reasons."  
  
The girl stared at him intently while he was saying this, and leaned forward, eyes glittering. The others looked at little speechless.  
  
"That's true, Wufei. War is an endless possibility for the human race, and is deeply rooted in our history and actions. However long we hold peace, it always seems to come crashing down in the end. Whether it be because of natural resources, politics, or moral atrocities, we can't seem to escape it. It always rises, and we rise to meet it…like we want to fight." She smiled a little shyly and turned to the others. "Of course this is a really, really depressing topic to be having at a bar downtown, and it seems both me and Wufei are a little pessimistic." She chuckled softly. Wufei gave a little shrug. Across the table, Duo grinned and stretched.  
  
"Yeah, but that's Wufei all the time."  
  
"Shut-up Maxwell. And stop playing with the salt and pepper packets. That glass of water looks truly disgusting."  
  
"Okay mother." He stared calmly at Wufei and reached across the table towards the sugar packets.  
  
Quatre gave them both looks and smoothly but pointedly moved the basket of packets to the far side of the table. He turned to Xiran, who looked a little embarrassed, and said loudly, "So anyways…"  
  
They easily began another line of conversation that seemed to be focusing around Duo's near obsession with food and Quatre's abilities to prepare it. Wufei said nearly nothing, since he didn't want to even think of the problems that would arise if he mentioned sushi and 'those squishy fish-egg things'.  
  
He noticed that Xiran didn't say much either, but shrugged it off and amused himself with thoughts of getting Duo really drunk. The thought of alcohol made him clench his hands in his lap. He almost wanted the freedom of it, to know absolutely nothing for several hours, but knew he could never forgive himself if he let it happen. Yet he really didn't want to think right now, about anything. Unfortunately, this was made especially difficult with a member of the opposite sex sitting across from him. Why did everything remind him of Sally? Wufei sighed.  
  
1 *Just let this be over soon…*  
  
[Xiran]  
  
She saw Wufei unconsciously run a hand through his hair, and thought he looked pained. The expression vanished almost immediately, but she was sure it had been there. She wondered about the cause of it for a time, but soon gave up. He was too closed off.  
  
The talk of food had begun to make her nervous, and she was hoping the others hadn't noticed her lack of participation. It made her uneasy, but it was at least something that could occupy them for some time and give her a chance to organize her thoughts.  
  
She found herself staring outside the window, beyond at the vague yellow collage of reflected light, and into the darkness. It pressed up against the glass, tinged with grey from the streetlights and blue from the sliver of moon. She didn't notice when her smile faded from her face. She became lost in her own musings.  
  
The night…full of possibilities, and illusions, and certainties…  
  
Abruptly she sensed something amiss. She blinked. Then she sharply turned her head and raised her eyes to meet a cold blue gaze. A young man stood silently next to the table, his hands nonchalantly in the pockets of his black coat. His face was blank.  
  
Xiran didn't move. She just kept the deadlock, staring into his face. She wasn't sure if it was a challenge or not, but it didn't seem to matter. The blue of his gaze burned into her. His face was strong, and his hair dark brown and thick. Like the others, he was young, but something in his eyes betrayed experiences that were older than his years. She felt a sudden bitterness rise in her throat.  
  
"—him?"  
  
She realized that the others were looking at her, and that a question had been asked, but she had no idea what it was. She tore her gaze from the cold one's face and looked at Duo for help. He was just looking at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
Quatre glanced at the stranger, and back to her. He said politely, "I just asked if you knew him. You were looking at each other like you had met before."  
  
She paused. "Well, no. I haven't. I don't even know what his name is…"  
  
"Heero Yuy," the stranger said for the first time. "My name is Heero Yuy."  
  
Yes, she thought. I will remember. Yuy, the leader, Yuy, the pilot of the Gundam ZERO and master of the ZERO system, Yuy the cold soldier with iron determination. The one who had a death-wish…who showed no emotion at all. Xiran slowly extended her hand, her eyes on his face again. For a moment he did nothing, then he silently removed his hands from his pockets. His hand clasped hers for a moment in the handshake, cool, with a little bit of pressure, completely neutral. Hers was the same. She introduced herself as their palms parted, and he gave her a nod of acknowledgement.  
  
Duo, grinning widely at Heero's silence, said loudly, "He's just so talkative, isn't he, Xiran?"  
  
Heero, obviously used to such jabs, simply gave him a look that said, oh shut up.  
  
"Stop making her uncomfortable, Duo," Quatre said easily, and turned to her. "You don't have to answer that."  
  
"Naw. Me and Xi here are buddies! She knows I'm just kidding." Duo laughed and threw an arm around her. He whispered loudly in her ear, "He's really a soft squishy teddy bear underneath, you know, you just have to get past his emotional constipation."  
  
Heero, who was in the process of removing his coat, paused and shot him a look. "I heard that."  
  
Duo feigned innocence. "What did I say?" he asked, with a bewildered expression on his face.  
  
Heero did not bother to reply.  
  
Duo gave Xiran a look of suffering. "Do you see what I have to deal with around here?"  
  
She sputtered, "Well, I…" and Quatre leaped in for her. "I'd advise you to stop that, Duo. She may cancel your Jell-O order."  
  
Duo fell over as if struck. "No," he gasped, putting a hand over his heart. "She wouldn't do that to me! She likes me too much." He shot her the look of a mistreated puppy, his eyes huge. Xiran was caught between laughing and being so nervous she couldn't say anything at all. Finally she managed to say, "Of course I wouldn't, Duo… unless you started playing with the packets again."  
  
He beamed and gave her a mock salute. "Consider the packets safe!"  
  
During this exchange, one of Heero's eyebrows had shot up. She saw Wufei wordlessly point across the table at the dirtied glass, which still had pieces of disintegrating paper and pepper floating in it. Heero gave Duo a look, then sighed, shaking his head. Duo grinned good naturedly and said, "Whaaat?" knowing full well what Heero was sighing about. Xiran couldn't help but chuckle.  
  
"You know what, Duo? I'd really hate to see you high," she told him. She heard what may have been a soft laugh from the other side of the table, but couldn't figure out who it had been. Duo laughed too and put a hand on his head. "Yah well, I don't think anyone else here wants to experience that either." Heero looked up. "I second that," he said, a shadow of a smile playing over his face. Xiran smiled too. Being around someone as…charismatic as Duo was, in a colossal understatement, interesting. He seemed to bring out the best in the rest of the group as well, including her. It was very different.  
  
Her gaze moved over the group, memorizing them, impressing them into her memory. She would probably not see them like this again, acting so natural and unguarded. As she watched, Duo nonchalantly formed a spitball with a bit of his napkin and rolled it in some leftover salt on the table. His gaze flicked to Wufei as he did this, obviously considering him a prime target. Wufei, of course, having noticed the spitball preparations, gave him a glare that would have killed a basilisk. Duo stopped in the act of raising his arm above his head to supposedly rearrange his braid. He smiled widely. Wufei fairly emanated 'I will kill you if you do that' vibes, and his eyes burned two holes in Duo's face. Duo was still grinning, the spitball in hand. Xiran felt sure he would throw it, just to piss Wufei off, and hoped that Duo either had several allies or that he could run really fast. Quatre was watching with a sort of helpless, amused smile on his face. He turned and gave her a shrug, as if to say, 'what can you do?' . Heero, completely ignoring the whole affair, was apparently absorbed in the choice of beverages on a wall sign. Very well then. It was up to her to do something. Hopefully Wufei wouldn't rise up and kill her with his dinner plate.  
  
Xiran quickly gave Duo's braid a tug and gestured vaguely in the direction of the kitchen doors. "Hey look, is that the waitress? Does she have the gelatin?" Duo immediately lost interest in Wufei and turned towards the doors. Xiran leaned back and grinned. "Sucker." Duo turned back with a completely innocent grin in place on his face. "Oh yeah?" Moving fast, his arm a blur, he whipped the spitball at her head.  
  
She ducked and deftly caught the spitball in midair as it passed towards Wufei's side of the table, greatly amused to see his triumphant expression slip off his face. She quickly turned and flicked it back at Duo, who ducked almost under the table. Then she pinned him there while he wriggled, and delicately wiped the drool off her hand onto his shirt, with a very serious, "Yuck."  
  
There was a muffled gah noise and a bit of a thump. A moment later she sat up again—without Duo. A foolish look of surprise was on her face, but it didn't have much time to register. Quatre started, "Where— " and her mouth opened to respond, but with a small noise, she was yanked downwards and out of sight. Beneath the table, there was the sound of muffled laughter. Heero and Wufei calmly glanced at each other, as Quatre covered his face with his hand.  
  
Heero paused to regard the overhead lamps. "We could pretend we don't know them," he said mildly.  
  
Wufei nodded his head. "Good idea."  
  
They suddenly found the overhead beams to be extremely interesting.  
  
"I wonder what they're doing under there," Quatre mused, several minutes later. Wufei and Heero stopped in the process of identifying drunks who would likely become criminals, and gave him two blank stares. "I really don't think we want to know," Heero told him.  
  
"No, no we don't." Wufei confirmed. They resumed their game. Quatre sighed. "Well I wish they'd at least be quick about it," he muttered.  
  
In the crowded space beneath the table, it was warm and semi-dark and rather dirty. But its two inhabitants weren't noticing, considering they were in the process of having a laughing fit so hard they could barely breathe. Xiran's mouth hurt from laughing and her stomach was beginning to ache but she couldn't stop. Every time she even looked in Duo's direction she started laughing again. He was just so funny.  
  
Near her and practically sitting on one of her legs was Duo, who was also having near convulsions of laughter and holding his sides.  
  
A couple of minutes later they had quieted down enough to form actual sentences, but still gasped for breath. Xiran relaxed her aching stomach and leaned against the bench where she was supposed to be sitting. She was grinning and her dark eyes seemed totally clear. She poked Duo, who was chortling in the corner. "Hey. Do you even know what we were laughing about? Because I have no idea." At this she started laughing again, and covered her face with her hand. Duo scooted over to where she was and laughed right along with her, shaking his head. "No, I have no idea whatsoever! But it sure was funny wasn't it?"  
  
"Well, obviously!" She told him. They sat back, rather tired out, and after a while, Duo commented, "Wufei's probably making his 'I so don't know them face'…"  
  
Xiran nodded. "Oh, definitely." Then she laughed, "And we are what, four years old?" They both erupted into mirth yet again. Duo ran a hand through his tousled hair, fixing her with his violet eyes.  
  
"Okay we're going to go up now so try to be normal, even though that may be hard for you…"  
  
Xiran snorted. "Oh yes, we all know how easy it is for you to be normal..."  
  
"This is normal, baby."  
  
"Aren't you just the epitome of the average teen."  
  
"And don't you forget it."  
  
They emerged from the darkness of the table, hair a little out of place, and idiotic grins on their faces. Wufei fixed them with a penetrating look. Heero's gaze moved from one to the other, before settling on Duo, who grinned impishly, his face revealing nothing. Quatre quietly elbowed Duo in the ribs, still smiling normally. Duo stretched and leaned back. "Well I'm feeling a little worn out now, aren't you?" He said to her, his eyes dancing. Xiran paused a moment before grasping the implications of what he was saying. She put a hand to her face as if in fatigue. "Oh yes, I feel as if I've run a mile. You know how hard that sort of thing is on a girl." Wufei's eyes were a little wider now, and Heero had his entire attention on them. Quatre was a bit speechless. Duo let the silence go on for a while. Finally he burst out in laughter. "You guys are so gullible!" Heero shook his head. Wufei looked quite annoyed and Quatre looked really relieved. They all seemed to relax. Heero reminded Duo that he had left his hat at his place, and taking it out of his coat, tossed it to him. "Hey thanks," Duo said, plopping it on his head.  
  
During this short exchange, Xiran glanced at the clock.  
  
Where was the last one?  
  
  
  
[Wufei]  
  
He was not amused. Definitely not amused. How could Duo lead them on like that? Then again, that was his nature, to confound, amuse, and eventually annoy. Wufei sighed. Sally would have--Damn it! Why couldn't his thoughts leave him alone for a moment? He sat back in disgust, focusing on calming himself and thinking of the wonderful silence back at his apartment.  
  
After several minutes of subtle meditation, Wufei once again opened his ears to the conversation flowing around him.  
  
Xiran and Duo were chattering away at each other, and it was obvious she felt very comfortable in his presence. The waitress brought the Jell-O bowls and set them on the table with an amused smile, their contents jiggling merrily beneath the whipped cream. Duo and Xiran stopped their conversation abruptly as the wiggling masses were set before their eyes, and quickly dug in. Duo wolfed his down like he was inhaling it, only stopping a few times when Xiran poked his spoon on the way to his mouth, causing the greenish square to topple off and splat into the table. This always caused a great amount of teasing and light insults, especially when they would scrabble for the runaway gob with their forks, the metallic sliding of the utensils chattering. In a matter of minutes Duo's bowl was empty and meticulously scraped clean of every tiny piece of lime, and he was eyeing her bowl rather mischievously.  
  
Wufei could see what was coming next. He saw Xiran glance sideways at Duo's vacant bowl, and then at his innocently grinning face, her eyes narrowing in sudden understanding. Just as his fork was inching towards her inviting green Jell-O cubes, she turned to him in sudden seriousness, and said with a perfectly straight face,  
  
"Touch my Jell-O, and I'll eat your hat."  
  
Duo threw back his head and roared with laughter, prompting amused smiles from even the silent ones, as Xiran grinned from behind her hand. Her shoulders shook with suppressed giggles.  
  
Wufei thought, you two are crazy. Then he considered her more closely. Xiran was relaxed, almost shy, yet seemed sometimes as controlled as Heero. She seemed real to him as she was now, and he couldn't sense any acting in her actions, but he had seen her take down a man two times her size and four times her weight with the same emotion one would have swatting a fly. There was definitely more to her than met the eye. Wufei thought to himself, I'll keep my attention on her and watch for any inconsistencies.  
  
Wufei leaned back into the shadows and watched expressions chase across her face as Duo challenged her to a thumb war over Quatre's leftovers. To his left there was a small sound from Quatre, who was looking at something beyond the booth, over his shoulder. His eyes traveled quickly to the silent figure standing next to the table, his hands in his pockets. The faint scent of cotton candy and animals wafted past his nose as he recognized the characteristic silence. Wufei also saw a green eye past the light brown hair that almost always covered Trowa's face. Wufei acknowledged him with a slight nod of his head, and gestured for him to sit down. Trowa smoothly cast a glance at Xiran as he settled down, passing Wufei a curious look shortly afterwards. Wufei shrugged. He rolled his eyes in Duo's direction. *His idea.*  
  
Trowa gave an almost imperceptible nod. At this point the conversation had paused, as the rest of the pilots acknowledged Trowa's presence. Their greetings were warm, and relaxed, the words of people who know each other well. Wufei noticed Xiran's dark gaze on them all, and felt uneasy at being unable to read her. He thought he saw a flicker of pain in her eyes…but it may have been a trick of the light.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
At the same time, she was thinking, now they are all here.  
  
Still she hesitated. She could not open her mouth. Her hands tightened in her lap as she sat and watched them talk. They knew each other so well.  
  
They had their individual traits, and their opposing personalities, but still, they seemed like a unit. No, something more personal, like a family. Or what she supposed a family should be like. They had faced the war like this, and it had drawn them together. Her experiences could not come close to rivaling theirs. She had nothing in common, nothing to compare with them. Yet they had taken her in so easily, without any provocation. Why?  
  
The conversation flowed around her like a rock in a stream, as they talked beneath the dull yellow glow of the lamps, and suddenly she felt hollow. She thought, I will never be like them.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
He had been watching her since Trowa arrived. She had not said much, not even to Duo, and seemed to have retreated to her earlier shyness. He wondered idly when they were going to get rid of her and start what they had come here to start. He drummed his fingers on the table and ignored Quatre's polite attempts at conversation. Letting his concentration slip away, he stared off into the grey outside the window. He thought about space and how he'd like to pilot something again, even though nothing would ever compare to Nataku. Immediately he blinked the bar back into focus, not letting his imagination get the best of him. He almost never thought of Nataku at all anymore…but he liked it better that way.  
  
Just then Xiran leaned forward and added something to the stupid conversation they were having,(something far beneath his notice-- the Miss Galaxy Pageant) and her eyes flashed blue. Dammit! Why couldn't she just go away and bother another bunch of people? Why did she have to sit there and remind him of Sally and—stop it. She had suddenly turned and glanced at him, her eyes unreadable. Wufei rearranged his face.  
  
With a long, slow blink, she returned her attention to the rest of them. Wufei thought, stupid, stupid, why can't you just leave me alone… and abruptly saw the first sign of tension in her face. There was weariness too, he noticed suddenly, and her next smile looked forced. Maybe slapping that hulk around took more out of her than I thought, he mused. She leaned forward into the conversation again, and said something feministic, and after a brief retort from Duo, said something about the way men ran the world, and about war. Wufei noted that those remarks were very leading, and wondered if it had been she that had begun the earlier conversation about colonization. He snapped to attention.  
  
"—at least most women don't have pissing contests over trivial things."  
  
"Yah but most of them don't have any fun either."  
  
"I'm sure you've had your share of parties Duo."  
  
"You bet…"  
  
"And you probably scared the people so badly they decided to run away…"  
  
"Hey--!"  
  
"I'd say that's a remarkably astute assumption," Heero said, with a sly look in Duo's direction.  
  
"Oh sure, take *her* part…just don't start getting all pacifist on me now…"  
  
"I'll get right on that."  
  
"Are you mocking me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"No, really, I'm not."  
  
"Liar."  
  
"It's on my priorities list."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Xiran smiled at them. "Okay, Duo, okay. You've won," she said in defeated tone. "We all know Trowa here's the real party animal." Even Wufei had to smile at that one, and Duo laughed loudly and clapped her on the back, saying, "Oh so true, so true…" Wufei vaguely noticed that she was putting them all off guard, but he was suddenly totally focused on her. Just as Duo had hit her shoulder, her face had tensed ever so slightly, and her eyes had clouded, as if it had hurt her. After a few moments he passed it off as his own overreaction, but several minutes later, she left the table quickly, claiming she had to go to the ladies' room. Almost immediately, he knew something was wrong.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Xiran closed the door of the bathroom stall and sat down on the toilet seat. She absently wiped at the green semicircle with the toilet paper, hoping it wouldn't get something on her pants. She put her face in her hands. She sat like that for several minutes, thinking, and at the same time noting the hideous lime green colour of the bathroom's décor. The air freshener was lime too, how truly disgusting.  
  
Wincing slightly, she touched her shoulder, and thought about infection and disease. She felt a little lightheaded. She cursed herself. Why did you take so long with the group of them? You could have said something sooner.  
  
I don't want to ruin what they have built for themselves.  
  
Yes, but this isn't just about them, its about everyone. She thought in sudden despair, I can't do this alone, and stood up. The world spun, and the nasty greens blended together. Xiran put a hand to her face.  
  
Make a decision.  
  
Outside the bar, in the cool twilight, a group of men stopped beneath a streetlight. They laughed loudly and obnoxiously and passed a bottle around, finally smashing it on the ground as it completed the round from one to fifteen. They made their way towards the bar called…something they couldn't remember, but they knew it well. With a little effort they turned the corner onto the street, one of their members almost stumbling into the road, and become suddenly confused by flashing red lights. A police car and ambulance were parked in the middle of the road, blocking it. Attracted by the thought of an accident and some gore, they eagerly pressed forward. Someone, or what once was someone, was being loaded into the ambulance. It was not too recognizable anymore. Then one of the less intoxicated members stepped forward, squinting in the red lights, and narrowing his eyes. All of a sudden his face blanched, and he stepped back, saying, "Darus? It's Darus?" The others crowded forward, asking questions of the policeman who appeared from inside his car, looking wary. He told them minor details of the accident, and responded curtly to the snarls of 'who did it?'  
  
"The police are in the process of investigating this accident," he told them. "We have yet to go to the bar he was last seen in."  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Wufei leaned across the table. "We have to get down to business," he said, "We have to ditch Xiran and get out of here." Heero and Trowa looked up at him with their annoyingly expressionless faces. Heero nodded slowly. "You're right." He glanced over at Duo and silenced his protest with a look. Duo sighed. "Allright."  
  
Wufei leaned back and glanced in the direction of the bathroom. "It's time."  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Xiran exited the bathroom and returned to the table, her hands stiffly clenched at her sides. She noticed that they were all looking at her, and wondered if her face was giving her away. She opened her mouth. Quatre, his eyes full of concern, said, "Is anything wrong?" She stopped, wanting to scream, yes everything is wrong! It's happening too fast and I can't stop it! Her head pounded.  
  
Suddenly her ears registered noise from down the street. Sounds of drunken men, curses, muttered words, shuffling feet. "—it was a girl, was it? Bitch, what did she do to him? Poison him?" More mutterings.  
  
"—maroon hair, blue eyes, black outfit— " Sounds of anger.  
  
"Thanks man, we owe you one." Someone walked away.  
  
"She's in there? Let's go—"  
  
Xiran turned sharply towards the door, her eyes wide, as Trowa, closest to her, saw a dark red stain soaking through her shirt. He quietly raised the alarm. Duo was suddenly next to her, asking questions, his words loud in her ears. She ignored him, her focus on the approaching sounds, and suddenly saw fifteen odd men coming through the door, huge and angry. She took a quick step back, silently cursing herself, and a sudden surge of weakness clouded her mind. She almost fell, narrowly catching herself on the table, and sensed Duo around her, holding her up. A dozen swear words flashed though her mind, and she muttered to an anxious Duo, "I'm sorry…" Xiran forced herself to stand up and took a step away, to get away somehow before Darus' friends reached them. She almost passed out again. She thought, I'm too weak! I should have waited—but there was no time. Now all of the pilots were standing up, as one of the gang in the front pointed an accusing finger at her saying, "There she is! She's the one who killed Darus!"  
  
All of the Gundam pilots turned to her, but there was no time to explain. She gritted her teeth, "It's not what you thi— " Just then the group pushed its way into the bar, and began a huge forward rush, smashing nearly everyone and everything in their path.  
  
Heero said, "Run for the side exit!" and took the lead, as usual. The men behind them came with surprising speed, half drunk and raging like psychopaths.  
  
They ran.  
  
Xiran blocked out the pain and raced to the side exit, Duo helping her along. Heero hit the door and it flew open, spilling them all onto darkness of the alley. Xiran had a glimpse of moldering trash and a dumpster or two, grey beneath the dark sky, before the first of Darus' men reached the door. To her surprise, he drew a weapon out of his jacket. He bellowed something to his friends, and raised it, a black handgun.  
  
"Scatter!" she yelled up the alley. For the first time, she saw their fighting skills in action, and they all immediately darted to the side, or rolled, or leaped behind a dumpster. A shot echoed down the alley, relatively quiet. Silencers, she thought, as Heero fell back and yelled, "Who's got the closest car?"  
  
"Me!" Duo shouted, and sprinted ahead, braid flying. Heero was suddenly beside her, and he urged her on. Another two shots assaulted their ears. One ricocheted off the wall near Quatre. Xiran's face went hard, and she reached down, turned, and fired two bullets at the mass of men running at them. Heero's blue eyes revealed nothing, but he backed off, still watching her. She ran on, realizing that those were not killing shots, but that they were enough to hold them off. She fired several more randomly, hearing the men scuffle and go for cover. Then suddenly they were on the street, and Duo was behind the wheel of a large black truck. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei piled in the back, and Heero in the front seat facing the alley, while Xiran paused to reload. She slammed the magazine home, and for a moment locked eyes with Heero. Then she flipped it and handed it to him, handle forward.  
  
She found herself abruptly in Wufei's lap as he pulled her inside and shut the door. At the same time Duo pulled away from the curb, tires screaming. Several shots exploded outside the truck, and Duo swerved, narrowly missing some parked cars. Moments later the sounds stopped, as they left the men in the dust.  
  
Xiran relaxed slightly, and the pain cluttered her brain again. She realized she was probably making a mess on Wufei…but there was nowhere else to move. Then things were coming duller, slower, and her mind felt far away. Xiran realized with some distaste that she was about to pass out completely, and thought, not again, as Wufei leaned over her and said something to her, watching her with his brown eyes. She sluggishly tried to move, but failed, and could say nothing. Then she felt her eyes close of their own accord, thought, oh dammit, and fell into blackness.  
  
Wufei shook her, and then said, "She's out." Duo glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Come again?"  
  
Wufei glared. "She's unconscious!"  
  
"Oh."  
  
There was silence. Heero slowly ran his fingers over the gun in his hands. Duo drove, jerkily avoiding trashcans. Wufei sat uncomfortably with a very much unwanted unconscious girl in his lap, and Quatre and Trowa both looked rather blank. The silence lengthened. Then Duo slowed, turned and spoke for them all.  
  
"Now what are we going to do?"  
  
END  
  
  
  
You would not believe how long this one took me! Dialogue is one of my major weaknesses, and it's a hell of a lot harder with chars that aren't yours. Xiran helps to keep me sane. At least I know what she's thinking 24/7… 


	4. Odd

CHAPTER FOUR: IMPLICATIONS AND ODD SITUATIONS  
  
  
  
A phone rang somewhere inside the great building. Its sound was not loud, but it carried to the closed doors of one of the smaller meeting chambers, and slipped between the cracks of the glossy wood paneling.  
  
Relena Peacecraft slightly inclined her head in the direction of the noise as she heard it, and cast her eyes to the door for a moment, then returned her attention to the meeting.  
  
Twelve men and women sat around a deep brown wooden table. They all had their attention on the woman who was speaking, who stood at the head of the table. Lady Une cast her eyes over the entire assembly, her long brown hair faintly shifting as her head turned.  
  
"So it is no longer a known threat which hangs over us. It is something different, that we cannot understand or predict. You all know of the assault on Ambassador Haldor, and that it was reported that they were dressed as Oz soldiers. But we don't know where they came from, or why they targeted him. That attack came out of the blue, and we thought that it might have been an isolated incident. Then months later, another attack on an ambassador occurred, and this time the soldiers were dressed in Romafeller uniforms. More disturbing in this case was the viciousness of the attack, and the erraticness. We don't know what to expect. And we don't know if they are working independently or together." She paused and sighed, taking off her glasses. "The Preventers have tried to determine the reason for the assaults , and the identities of the people behind them, but we have so far been unsuccessful. However, we must act, and quickly. The slow unrest of the people is mounting, and accusations are flying. The republic that Haldor represents is accusing us of trying to assassinate him. We suspect terrorism, but it isn't in the style of any group we know of at this point. The investigation is continuing, but it will take time. What I asked you here for today is to inform you of what is going on, and how the Preventers are dealing with it, and also to ask for your assistance.  
  
All of you have worked hard with us for peace, and your efforts have been a great help to all of us here, and to the world. What the Preventers need you for now is to help calm the people, to stop the rising unease, and for some, to offer us your unique services." Lady Une's eyes passed over Relena as she said this, and she gave a slight nod in her direction.  
  
Relena slowly stood up, acknowledging Lady Une with a nod of her head. She turned to the men and women seated at the table. "What Lady Une has said is true, and as an individual who fights for peace, I implore you to contribute your efforts, and as a part of an organization I dearly hope that you will help us. The people have lost trust in us, and we must reinstate it, in order to calmly and peacefully discover who is behind these atrocities. Together, we can— "  
  
Relena paused as an attendant appeared next to her shoulder, looking apologetic. Disguising her irritation, she said quietly, "This is a very important meeting, but I know it must be important for you to interrupt me. What is it?"  
  
"An urgent phonecall, Miss Peacecraft."  
  
A phone call? Relena thought. She wondered for a fleeting second if it was Heero, then dismissed it. She had to stick to business. She hadn't heard from him in weeks, anyway.  
  
"Herrel, this meeting is far more important than a phone call. Please tell them to wait."  
  
"But Miss Peacecraft, it's on one of the private lines, the secure ones…" Relena remained unconvinced. "He said he had to speak with you immediately." She paused.  
  
"He?"  
  
"He had a rather low voice, and spoke quite neutrally," Herrel said helpfully. Relena's mind was racing.  
  
She looked up at the expectant members at the table, and then directly at Lady Une.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you must excuse me for a moment," she announced politely. As quickly as she could, she turned and headed for the door.  
  
  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Relena. Is this a secure line?"  
  
"Yes, but not top notch. Heero, is something wrong? Please tell me."  
  
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Relena held her breath.  
  
"We have a situation."  
  
"What kind of situation? Does it involve the possible terrorist attacks?" Relena asked worriedly. Heero replied loudly over background noise, "I can't mention it over the phone. I don't know exactly what is going on, but it has the potential to be difficult. Hold on a moment," He said. Relena heard a muffled conversation. Heero had obviously placed his hand over the phone. She caught something along the lines of would you shut up for just one minute? And then someone, sounding indignant, --bleeding all over the place! You know just about as much as I do about this sort of thing so shut up! Then, …would both of you please be quiet while he finishes calling the doctor?! There was some more mutterings. Heero came back on the line. "Sorry. Relena, we've picked up a lone wolf and we're not sure if he has pursuers, or if he's connected to anything important at this moment. He's been injured, and we need a trusted Preventer doctor."  
  
"I'll send one immediately. Do you think he could be a spy?"  
  
"I'm not sure. We'll just have to wait and see. A few minutes ago he woke up for a moment muttering, don't take me to a hospital, please, not there, don't let them…and passed out again. We're going to a safe place." He paused, as if he wanted to say more. Relena thought, I was worried about you when you left…  
  
"If there are people looking for him we have to stay underground for now. Give us a doctor and tell him to meet me two blocks north of Onyx Five. I'll keep in touch."  
  
Relena hesitated, and drew in a breath. "Be careful, Heero."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Goodbye, Relena." He hung up. The dial tone hummed in her ear. Slowly she set the receiver down, not really focusing on it. She whispered to the empty room and the endless spaces of telephone wire between them, "Heero…"  
  
  
  
[Heero]  
  
Heero Yuy was jerked to the right. Then to the left, and the right again. He turned and set his rather annoyed sights on Duo, who was leaning over the steering wheel with a look of glee and concentration on his face. The truck careened down another side street, almost on the middle line, and at a speed that would have made almost any driver flinch. Duo and Heero, of course, were far from flinching, but the same could not be said for Quatre who was having some doubts about his friend's driving skills.  
  
"You know, just because you have a fake ID and driver's license doesn't mean you can actually drive!" He reminded Duo from the back seat. Duo laughed. "This is a piece of cake, buddy. Deathscythe was way more complicated than this, and at least we don't have people shooting at us. What have you got to worry about?"  
  
At about that time he turned the wheel hard to the right and screeched around a corner, one set of wheels almost leaving the road. "Duo!" Quatre yelled.  
  
"Sorry! Minor steering malfunction!" Duo reported with a grin, as he zoomed up another road.  
  
Heero at this point, with one hand anchoring him in place, was bored and riffling through the car's storage compartment. He pulled out a wad of paper and frowned, eyes traveling up and down the sheet's length. He gave Duo a sideways glance. "So when did you start reading Playgirl, Duo, old buddy?"  
  
Duo gave him a startled look. "Huh?"  
  
"Duo, did you steal the car?"  
  
"Not exactly…" Duo evaded. Heero gave him a long, silent look.  
  
"Well it was the first one I saw that was big enough…and its big and black and it looks cool…"  
  
"So you stole it."  
  
"Stole is such a harsh word…"  
  
Quatre started saying urgently from the back, "Car. Car! CAR!" As another vehicle turned onto the road up ahead. Duo glanced up and gave the truck a quick yank to the side, as the car went past, horn blaring. "Would you stop being a backseat driver?"  
  
Heero sat back and noted mildly, "Well it's a good thing she's unconscious or you might have given her a heart attack."  
  
"Hey, do you wanna drive this thing?" Duo said indignantly. Heero calmly stuffed the papers back into the glove compartment. "Not now that you've sent every cop in this area after us."  
  
"Must you insist on looking on the dark side of things?"  
  
"Just being helpful."  
  
"Well would you mind being helpful someplace else?"  
  
Heero glanced at the road ahead. "If you say so. That's a mailbox, by the way."  
  
"I know that!" Duo swerved. There was some muttering from the backseat. "Do I have to come up there, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, sounding irritated.  
  
"Car! Car! Car!" Quatre was yelling again, as the driver ahead sat on his horn.  
  
"Would you stop that?" Duo said plaintively. The truck moved erratically to the side and the other car went past. There was a thunk as they hit a sign and flattened it beneath them. Heero coughed.  
  
"Oh, shut up."  
  
  
  
Heero stared at the changing orange numbers in the elevator as they went from lobby to floor fifty, listening to the sound of the machines as they hummed and cranked their way up to the top floor. The silence inside the elevator was broken only by those noises. Duo was amusing himself by looking in the multiple reflections of himself in the mirrors, Quatre was watching him do it with a bemused look on his face, Trowa was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, apparently finding the unchanging grey surface of the elevator door rather interesting, and Wufei was standing in the corner with Xiran in his arms, with a black storm cloud hanging over his head. Heero thought to himself, why is it that we almost always come together under the worst possible circumstances? He glanced at Wufei, who looked as though he had been personally insulted by the whole incident, and then at the unconscious girl in his arms. Her face held nothing of the half shy smiling Xiran they had met in the bar. Even in unconsciousness she held herself in cold control. Heero looked away. He thought of his conversation with Relena. He remembered the sound of her voice.  
  
The elevator stopped. The orange numbers faded.  
  
"Floor level fifty," the elevator announced, sounding much too happy for its own good. They stepped off, Wufei coming last. There was a thunk as he passed the doorway. Trowa glanced back.  
  
"I hope that wasn't her head," he said mildly. Wufei gave him a look.  
  
"It was her foot, thank you," he said, sounding indignant. They approached the door to their room at a slow pace. Quatre looked around as Heero inserted the key. "It's a nice enough place, I guess," he observed, looking at the traditionally muted pastel tones of the hotel's decor.  
  
"Sure, just a little boring," Duo said with a shrug. "Well I guess we should be grateful for a hotel room we aren't paying for, no matter how it looks." Heero opened the door and they went in. "Hey nice! The penthouse!" Duo exclaimed. "We're living in style!" He gazed up at the big windows, the soft couches, the wood and carpeted floors, and the metal stairs that led to a little catwalk going to two rooms.  
  
"Would you move?" Wufei demanded from the hall, unable to get around Duo, who had stopped to observe the scenery.  
  
"Sure buddy," Duo said without turning. "But only after you take that pole out of your--"  
  
"Just move!" Quatre said in exasperation, pushing him out of the way. Wufei went past, pointedly ignoring Duo, who found a beam beneath the stairs and began swinging on it.  
  
Heero said from one of the rooms, "Wufei, in here." He thought it would be best to keep him away from Duo, and more importantly, to put the girl down so she wouldn't bleed to death. They had tried to slow the flow of blood, but shirt didn't work very well and the old bandages on her shoulder were saturated. She probably wouldn't die, but she definitely had to be looked at by someone who actually knew what they were doing. Wufei came in and laid her down with surprising gentleness, then stood up. After a time he turned and faced Heero across the dimly lit room.  
  
"Do you think this could be something serious?"  
  
Heero crossed his arms, and said noncommittally, "I don't know. This could be an isolated incident. Or it could be part of something we want no hand in." Wufei nodded, his brown eyes shadowed.  
  
"It may be connected to the reports of a disturbance in space, or to the mysterious meteorite. It seems a little suspicious." Heero saw faint expressions sliding behind Wufei's eyes, but could not place them. Wufei's gaze traveled to Xiran, lying unconscious and unprotected on the bed. He observed to no one in particular, "There's definitely something she's hiding from us..."  
  
Heero said quietly, "Everyone has secrets."  
  
He saw Wufei smile a little. "Yes, but hers might come back to haunt us as well as her. You weren't there when she dealt with that man. She was like one of us. She was calm, and highly skilled. Yet there was a cold anger as well, that I have only before seen in you. She beat the poor bastard's head in with no effort whatsoever."  
  
Heero glanced at her. "Unprovoked?"  
  
Wufei shook his head. "He was drunk, and he was threatening her. There wasn't a whole lot she really could have done, but she took it a step farther than she could have." He shrugged. "Then again, I can't say I would have done any different, but the point is that she's more than she seems."  
  
Heero said nothing. He thought, but aren't we all? There was a silence. Heero looked at Wufei and said quietly, "She had a gun too. She evidently knows how to use it, and she has the look of someone highly trained."  
  
Wufei took a step towards the door. "I saw that. It looked like military style instruction." He paused. "Or she could just be a woman who took self defense courses and knows how to defend herself."  
  
Heero shrugged. "Who knows?"  
  
Wufei left. Heero took one more look at her, checked the bandage, and did the same. The door closed and Xiran Ki'Era was left to the darkness.  
  
* * *  
  
Heero was staring at the clock. The doctor had come and gone and now it was late. The man, dressed in nondescript clothes, had come to the street corner at the exact time proposed, carrying a briefcase. He had identified himself to Heero's liking, with both identification, knowledge, and a message from Relena. He removed a bullet from Xiran's shoulder, that had apparently been there for several days, and cleaned the wound. Then, asking no questions, he left them specific instructions and left. Now Heero sat in one of the large soft couches, watching the moving hands on the antique clock on the wall. The doctor had told them to change the bandage in approximately two hours.  
  
The others were spread around the room. Trowa and Quatre were over in a corner playing Big Two, Wufei was doing something that Heero assumed was meditating, and Duo was on one of the other couches, just beginning to snore.  
  
Sighing, he stretched and stood up. It was time. Quatre and Trowa looked up from their game. "The hours are up?" Quatre asked. Heero nodded wordlessly. He looked in the direction of the bedroom, his expression slightly uneasy. "I guess I'll go do it then," he said.  
  
"And who said that you would be the one to change it?" Duo asked from the couch, suddenly very awake, his violet eyes sharp and full of hilarity. Heero looked at him for a moment, but the relief quickly vanished from his face when he saw Duo's grin.  
  
"Who would you have do it, Duo?" Wufei inquired mildly, his eyes still closed. Duo sat up swiftly. "Well I was just offering my services—"  
  
"So the fact that you have to remove her shirt in the process didn't cross your mind at all?" Wufei asked pointedly, his brown eyes suddenly open. Duo exaggeratedly opened his eyes in surprise.  
  
"Me? I am so hurt that you would even suspect that of me, Wufei!" He couldn't keep the amusement out of his face. He sighed.  
  
"Would you go then?" He said, watching Wufei's expression. Heero saw Wufei's anger coil in him, tight and ready. His eyes were flat. "No, I wouldn't," he said quietly.  
  
"Then who is going to go?" Duo asked loudly. Trowa and Quatre exchanged a look over their cards. They abruptly became completely absorbed in their game. Wufei had closed his eyes and resumed meditating. Heero was still standing. He didn't say anything.  
  
"Well I guess I'll have to go!" Duo said, and stood up, not sounding at all dismayed.  
  
"No!" Came the unanimous answer from the room.  
  
Heero gave Duo a level stare, and a little smile curved his mouth. "Too bad, Duo." Then he sighed. "I'll go then," he said, directing a slightly accusatory glance at the rest of his comrades.  
  
Duo said, "Damn you."  
  
The sliver of light opened directly onto the bed as Heero stepped into the room, illuminating Xiran's body and driving away the shadows. He let the door close with a click. He remembered Hilde on hospital gurney, and the look on Duo's face as he watched her. Old memories, triggered by this stranger. Heero sighed and rolled her onto her back, fingers firm but gentle. Her bangs spilled across her face.  
  
Am I like her? He thought to himself. Is that what they see in my face every day, the blankness, the total lack of expression? He thought of Trowa…his laughter on that bright day. Then inevitably, the blue eyes and blonde hair of Relena came into his mind. Strange that he should think of her again…He suddenly realized that he had stopped moving, and shook himself.  
  
In that moment he looked down at Xiran, seeing the wound and the slight weariness in her features. Her arms were loose by her sides. She seemed small and fragile, even though he suspected she was far from being so.  
  
*If it was Relena lying there now, would I feel rage…?*  
  
  
  
She rose from the numb depths of unconsciousness. There was darkness. It pressed in on her mind, huge and suffocating. She floated in it, prone, face down, her eyes forced closed. No sound yet, just silence, vast, smothering silence. Noises made of smoke, thick and black, more tinged with memory than reality, pressed near. Twinges and the taste of metal. Harsh chemical smells. Tiny pricks. Heavy scent of something holding her. Pressed down, restrained. Then pain, clear as a flash of light. Old laughter, shoving, pushing, struggling, breath coming faster and faster. Cold surface like ice. No straps yet, no, they had been careless—but there was someone, something there, and the pain came again, the weight on her shifting…  
  
Heero knelt next to her on the bed, gently removing the bandage from her shoulder. The wound looked infected and painful, but the doctor had removed the festering tissue already, and it could now begin to heal. Still, it looked like it hurt, and he remembered the pain from his own bullet wounds. He leaned close to better see where his fingers were touching in the semi- dark, suddenly in an instant saw the glint of her open eye.  
  
The back of her arm hit him hard in the face as he tried to move out of the way. The swift turning motion as she half rose and twisted was powerful, coming from her whole torso. For an instant he saw surprise in her eyes as he was knocked across her and off the bed.  
  
Heero hit the wall already in a tense crouch, his blue eyes trained on her every move. She sat frozen where she was, staring at him, her eyes wide and slightly wild. For a long moment he stared into their depths, seeing intense, usually guarded, emotion. He saw her gaze clear and her breath slow. She lowered her raised arm and sighed out. For a second she turned away almost angrily. When she looked back at him her eyes were dark and apologetic.  
  
"I'm sorry, Heero..."  
  
He slowly rose to his feet, his face utterly blank, his blue eyes trained on hers. He moved towards her warily, but without fear. As he came close she looked away and cast her eyes downward. She drew the covers up to her chest. Something in the way she sat, the way her face had drained of emotion, told him that she expected a blow, and that she had been hit before.  
  
Something twisted in him.  
  
He picked up the cloth at the side dresser and gently wiped blood from her newly opened wound, which was slowly oozing. "Just be still," he said softly. She turned her head and fixed her dark eyes on him. He read faint surprise and a particular questioning in their depths. He paused for a moment, holding her gaze. She looked away first.  
  
Quickly he set about to changing the bandages. He finished swiftly, fingers precise but gentle, and he was halfway to the door when her voice stopped him.  
  
"Thank-you." Her voice sounded small and soft. He turned.  
  
Xiran was sitting up with her eyes on him, her hair falling in her face. The silence was filled with shadows. Finally he replied, "You're welcome." He went to leave again and paused.  
  
"Get some rest. After you've slept we'd appreciate come information." He thought he heard her sigh.  
  
"And that you will have, Heero Yuy," she said. Without turning, he shut the door.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Wufei looked up as Heero exited the room, something in the heaviness of his footsteps telling him something was wrong. He wondered fleetingly about Heero alone in a dark room with a good looking girl, then dismissed it. Shortly after that he kicked himself and tore his treacherous mind away from thoughts of Sally Po. When his eyes finally fell on Heero's face, all thought was immediately erased.  
  
Her past may come back to haunt us…he had said. How fitting.  
  
Wufei thought darkly, what have we let into our house? He came to his feet just as behind him, Trowa said in his neutral voice, "What happened?" And from across the room, Duo uttered a small exclamation, his violet eyes flaring.  
  
Heero stopped and looked at them. He absently wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. Duo came forward, his face deceptively calm. There was a question in his eyes, and Wufei saw it. No matter how irritating Duo could be, Wufei never wanted to stand against him…not again. He flinched from those memories, and looked into the face of the one he had once raised his gun against.  
  
Heero told Duo, "It's alright." His eyes were distant. "We will talk to her in the morning, after she's rested. She's agreed to co-operate."  
  
Duo said with a sliver of amusement, "Was that before or after you punched yourself in the face?"  
  
Wufei fought the urge to roll his eyes. Heero's face remained impassive. "After."  
  
"Oh." As if that had cleared everything up, Duo nonchalantly walked back over to his couch and flopped in it. Wufei thought to himself, hit himself in the face my ass, and watched Heero's cobalt eyes as Quatre softly asked him if he was okay. Heero nodded. He means it in more than one way, Heero, Wufei thought. Trowa said nothing, as was his way, but his green eyes observed everything.  
  
Both him and Quatre retired soon afterwards. Wufei was beginning to feel his eyelids grow heavy as well, but one thought kept him totally awake. Who was this Xiran Ki'Era to be able to hit Heero Yuy in the face, much less make him bleed? The thought made him a little uneasy. He walked to where Heero was sprawled on a soft chair. Heero raised his head and responded to his unspoken question.  
  
"I'll watch tonight, Wufei."  
  
Wufei nodded and went to go to bed. Curiosity, however, was strong, and as he passed Xiran's room, he paused. She still looks harmless, he thought to himself as he gazed through the slight gap in the door. I wonder if she still looked that way when she hit him…Wufei looked to the shadow where he knew her face would be. What lies beneath…he thought. Well, they would know tomorrow. He let the door close.  
  
As he passed back through the hall, he saw Duo and Heero engaged in conversation. He couldn't make out the words, but decided that he didn't really care. He saw Heero pause and look straight at Duo, and the sentence came across very clearly: "The thing is…I know she held back…"  
  
Great, Wufei thought. Just great.  
  
END  
  
  
  
Oh man! I love adding Relena to this whole mix! It sure adds some spice. And Wufei, well his sarcasm keeps me amused. The funny thing is, it's only amusing while it is in my head. After it gets on the computer screen I start hating it and thinking how stupid it is…argh. Well, I hope no one hates what I've done so far, because there's lots more coming! And on a different note…does anyone else but me notice the yaoi references to Duo and Heero? Read it…they're there ^^ 


	5. Maze

CHAPTER 5: THE MAZE  
  
The sun shone in through the open windows, pooling soft golden puddles of light on the floor. One of those bright rays just so happened to be shining right on Hilde's face. Slowly she came awake. Her blue eyes opened then sleepily squinted shut again. She moved to throw an arm over her eyes but couldn't. A little irritably she realized that Duo had somehow managed to squash her into the corner of the couch and at the same time lie on both her hands. Hilde nearly yanked her hands out then and there, but after brief speculation, decided against it. It was rather nice and cozy and warm right at that moment, so to avoid the glare, she burrowed a little farther into the warm mass that was Duo and the blanket. Just as she felt her mind beginning to slow down again, soothed by the rise and fall of Duo's breathing, her eyes snapped open. Oh man, she thought, this is the day of the Preventer meeting! Hilde lifted her head of her pillow of Duo, resolutely ignoring the puddle of drool  
where her face had been, and pried her hands out from under the amorphous mass of grey blanket and boy. Abruptly she hoped that her hands had remained in a...good spot during the night, and worried a bit, but then reasoned that he wouldn't have noticed anyway. He slept like the dead.  
  
Hilde made a slight effort to smooth her tousled hair, but almost immediately gave up, seeing as it was way too much effort to lift her arms. She stretched luxuriously and rubbed her eyes, thinking of the coffee maker in the insanely far away kitchen. With a sigh, she rolled out of the blanket's grasp and onto the floor.  
  
"Owch," she muttered, as the movie cases and popcorn on the tile floor assaulted her with sharp jabs and crunches. With minimal mutterings she navigated her way through them on her hands and knees, too lazy to get to her feet. When she reached the kitchen she used the seat of a chair to lever herself up. Sluggishly, she felt her way to the coffee maker and had her first caffeine rush of the day. As the steaming liquid filled her, a huge smile broke out on her face, probably as a side effect of the near nuclear black coffee and loads of sugar. Her eyes focused and she finally felt like she had some energy. Probably well on my way to having an addiction, she thought cheerfully. "Thank-you coffee beans!" Abruptly she noticed a large sticky note on the wall, directly across from the coffee maker. Absently she thought, damn, I know myself way to well, as she made out the hastily written words in black marker:  
  
WE HAVE TO GET TO THE PREVENTER MEETING TODAY!!  
  
AT 9:00!!!  
  
Hilde stared stupidly at the last part. Nine? She thought wildly. They expected us to be awake at NINE? She quickly downed the rest of the coffee, relishing the sudden spark of caffeine, and ran for the living room. Hurredly she activated the VCR in front of the couch to check the time. The final movie they had watched in their senseless-stupid-slasher movie marathon ejected automatically, and she cringed in remembrance. She couldn't even remember what the name was, but it didn't matter. It deserved no mention.  
  
The time was...eight forty four! Oh, hell! Quickly she turned and tried to locate Duo's head among the lumps in the grey blanket. She found--a leg! Following that trend up she found the brown spikey head. She decided to be nice today and not simply introduce him to the discarded popcorn on the floor. She shook his shoulder. "Duo." She shook harder. "Duo!" He stirred and grunted sleepily,"...Just five...ten...sixty more minutes..." and curled into a ball.  
  
Hilde, with some effort, resisted overturning the couch.  
  
"Duo, get up. We have to be out of here in fifteen minutes!" There was a muffled noise. "And," he muttered, "I care because?"  
  
"Because you have to be there too baka, so get your ass up!" There was no response. Hilde BARELY resisted dragging him by the hair to the kitchen and force feeding him coffee. Then a mischievous smile crossed her face. "Duo," she said sweetly, "what if I threatened not to cook anything but spam and beans for the rest of your life?" Duo barely twitched. "You wouldn't be able to do that. I know you," he said and pulled the blanket over his head. Hilde frowned. That boy is too smart in the morning for his own good, she thought in annoyance. "Well all right Duo," she said in a defeated tone. "You don't have to get up. If you don't mind not getting anything for the rest of your miserable little life." There was a chuckle from beneath the blanket. "I won't be moved by lust! My inner Shinigami defends me from your dastardly feminine plot!"  
  
"Oh all right," Hilde sighed, slowly backing up, "But..." She took a running leap into the air. Duo let out a sleepy yelp as she landed on his midsection, but his hands were pinned beneath the blankets. "--what if I started calling you `honey bunches?" Or," she grinned and leaned forward, "shnookums?" Duo cringed.  
  
"You wouldn't."  
  
Hilde's grin only spread. "Oh, wouldn't I? I have pookie on the tip of my tongue now, and unless you want your name to be pookie for the next three months you'd better get up because we have ten minutes left!"  
  
Duo rolled his violet eyes in mock exasperation, and said with big puppy eyes, "Are you sure there is no way we could negotiate this?" He stuck out his lower lip.  
  
Hilde paused, as if considering. Then she said, "I'm sure Heero would really get a kick out of pookie, and oh, I wonder what Wufei would say..." Duo groaned and rolled her off of him. "And Zechs too," Hilde continued, "and I'm sure he'd be so amused that he'd tell it to Noin, and then Noin would tell Relena, and Relena would tell Dorothy..." Duo sat suddenly upright.  
  
"I'm up! I'm up!"  
  
Hilde smiled and patted his cheek, putting on her most infuriating grin.  
  
"I knew you'd see it my way."  
  
* * *  
  
The wind caught Duo's hair as he was trying to rebraid it. It snatched it out of his fingers, where it proceeded to tangle and slap him in the face, and he cursed. Hilde glanced over from her place at the wheel of her old battered pickup truck. She grinned and ran her hand through Duo's rebellious locks.  
  
"You look so sexy when your hair's down," she told him, and he gave her a rather irritated look. She continued, "Just like Zechs..."  
  
"Hey, those of us who are not male prostitutes keep our hair done up," He replied, once more trying to put his hair in a braid. "Forgive me for not being a sex symbol." He was in a bad mood this morning, due to lack of sleep and a rude wake up call. And more than that. Hilde laughed. "If you only knew..."  
  
"Knew what?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Knew *what*?"  
  
"Oh nothing...I'll tell you...later." She smiled at him sideways.  
  
"Ah yes...you have needs which only the God of Death may fulfill..."  
  
"Always."  
  
They laughed. Duo had finally done his hair. He stuck his head out the open window he had been too lazy to close and let the wind ruffle his bangs. He was tired, and glanced at his watch. It was about nine. Heero would be quite aggravated by their lateness, but what could you do? The five of them had already heard Xiran's story anyway. He didn't understand why they had to be present while she repeated it to Relena. Duo sighed and remembered Heero saying, after Xiran was finished, ` Now we must present your case to the Preventers, and the first person I'd like you to meet is Vice Foreign Minister Darlian, previously known as Relena Peacecraft.' Xiran had nodded solemnly. `I know who she is,' she had said.  
  
Her story seemed to have opened a new dimension of personality for her. In her memories she found sorrow, anger, and pain, and these things now so clear and unguarded in her eyes lent her gaze a new gravity that had not been there before. Duo still found it unnerving that she could have masked her emotions so well, but he sensed the truth in her words. And in the near palpable pain in her face that she had struggled to hide. She reminded him of Heero, and when he thought about it like that, he felt troubled. *What if his past is just as bad? I never asked him...*  
  
"Duo, do you think her story is true?" Hilde asked suddenly. He had told it to her in detail the night before. Duo looked out at the city for a moment, then replied, "Yes, unfortunately I do." He sighed. "It seems the party never ended up there in space." He looked in the rearview mirror, seeing his own face, the violet eyes, brown bangs, and then the long braid. The God of Death once more, he thought. Just when I thought it would be the last time. He closed his eyes.  
  
War is an endless possibility for the human race, Xiran Ki'Era had said, when she had only been a girl in a bar. Now she was something more, and it was at her call that the Gundam pilots would return to war.  
  
Duo looked down almost angrily and then directed his gaze out the window. He thought involuntarily, damn her.  
  
The look in Heero's blue eyes when she was telling the tale would have been unreadable, had it not been Duo watching him, but he had seen the pain there. Trowa especially had looked grave, and Quatre's eyes had reflected his sadness that war was rising again. Wufei...well Wufei, being himself, had looked angry, but Duo sensed that it was about something more than what Xiran had just said.  
  
Duo looked over at Hilde. He remembered the hospital...  
  
He clenched his fists in his lap.  
  
"Hilde..." he began, but the look she gave him, full of concern because she had read his voice, stopped him. "Nothing."  
  
She looked at him for a long moment. "It wasn't nothing." It was not a question.  
  
Duo shook his head as they passed the outskirts of the city and continued towards the small secret Preventer base. "No."  
  
A sudden memory, a church. A church in smoking ruin. His face twisted, even though he tried to hold it in. He looked up as Hilde took his hand, and her eyes were sad for him. She smiled then, a small smile.  
  
"You aren't ever getting away from me, Duo Maxwell." She said it softly, meaning every word. Duo grinned in return, finding it hurt even to do that.  
  
"Yeah, I know." He looked up as they pulled into the Preventer base.  
  
The others were already there.  
  
***  
  
Relena Peacecraft looked up as one of her aids came in the door. "Miss Relena," the girl said politely, "Your guests have arrived." Relena stood and gave Catherine a small nod. "Thank you. Now please leave us. We have important matters to discuss." Catherine made a small bow and left. Relena looked up for a moment at the painting of the man that she had known as father that hung in the wall. Now I meet the lone wolf, she thought. And I will fight for peace, as I will always do. I will make the terror stop, Father. She turned towards the door as she heard footsteps. Heero was there, behind those doors. Just his presence gave her hope. It was he who had the strength needed to fight against war. She held back her excitement at seeing him, and so when the large doors were opened, she was calm, reserved, and demure.  
  
Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang, Quatre Winner, and Duo Maxwell entered the room. She was at once startled by how they had changed, these five warriors of peace, at the grave looks on their faces, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw walking next to the one she had waited for. Relena Peacecraft thought in total surprise, Who is that?  
  
Heero stopped and looked at Relena, apparently not seeing how shaken she was by the girl's appearance. Relena quickly forced her mouth into a welcoming smile. "Good morning. Please, take a seat." She gestured gracefully to the chairs around a large mahogany table. Her eyes traveled back to the stranger at Heero's side. Heero said, "Relena. This is Xiran Ki'Era, our lone wolf." The girl looked her straight in the eyes with her dark gaze, and said quietly, "Hello, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian. It's a pleasure." Relena nodded in her direction. "Please call me Relena Darlian." The girl bowed her head silently in agreement. "You can call me Xiran if you like. It really doesn't matter to me."  
  
"Of course," Relena said coolly. Xiran seemed to sense that something was bothering her, and fixed her with her piercing gaze. She was dressed in casual clothes, as the rest were, but Relena recognized them as Hilde's. Hilde had probably got a kick out of sending her those, Relena thought, eyeing the totally black outfit with a smiley face on the shirt, that said `ray of sunshine'. Just then, Hilde herself entered, sounding out of breath.  
  
"Sorry, forgot something in the car, then couldn't find the bathroom...jeez this place is huge..."she stopped. "Oh right," she said, her eyes falling on Xiran.  
  
"Hi, I'm Hilde." Xiran smiled for the first time and stood to shake Hilde's offered hand. "I'm Xiran." Hilde sat next to Duo, and they settled down, their attention turning to Xiran, who sat next to Heero with Duo on her other side. Xiran was staring at her hands. As she watched Heero leaned in and said something quietly to her. Her face didn't change, but her eyes finally rose to roam over those sitting at the table with her. Relena waited for several minutes before beginning.  
  
"Thank you all for coming. These circumstances are most unusual, but in these times of disquiet we all must stand together for the sake of peace." Duo already looked bored, and Hilde punched him. Relena decided to ignore that. She looked at Xiran. "I have been told that you have new information on the terrorist attacks, and possibly a lead. I am truly glad you have joined us..." she glanced across the table at the pilots.  
  
"Although, I was under the impression that you were a boy." She said with a look in Heero's direction. Duo chuckled. "Our Heero. Always so good with communication."  
  
Heero shrugged. "Deception was necessary." Xiran looked up at that. She laughed softly.  
  
"Now that's something I think we all know a bit about."  
  
She took a breath, her eyes suddenly serious. "I would just like to say for the record that I am sorry about that incident in the bar with those guys. It really wasn't something I'd planned on." She smiled a little wryly. "Now, though, it appears the time has come for me to tell you what I know. And that may put you in much more danger than we were in that night. I am, once again, sorry beyond words." She glanced at the blond girl sitting across from her. "Relena, you are now the only one who hasn't heard the tale. The rest of you...can stare at some spot on the wall for a while." Duo sighed with relief and put his feet on the table. Hilde rolled her eyes and sat forward, evidently wanting to hear the story from Xiran's own lips. Heero didn't even look up, Relena noticed. He looks like he knows something that the others don't. Why won't he look at her? He looked across at Relena suddenly, and for a moment there was sadness in his cobalt eyes. She fought the urge to reach  
over and take his hand, or say something...  
  
Xiran straightened and took a steadying breath, and Relena tore her gaze from Heero's now expressionless face. "My name is Xiran Ki'Era, but it is only a name that I took a few weeks ago.  
  
I don't know my real one. I don't know who the people were who allowed their genes to be put in a test tube that I might be born. All I know is my own experiences, and the information I gathered while under the command of the Genesis forces. Genesis is the name given to the project that the facility focused on, and so we were eventually called the Genesis forces. The facilities are really space fortresses, smaller than colonies, but large enough to have their own population and mobile doll bays. They have strong weapons capabilities and defenses.  
  
When the armistice was declared they didn't stop manufacturing, but continued to create new weapons and technologies. The leader of facilities is Arcon, and no I don't know his last name. He has a genius that may rival those of the professors who created your gundams. He created at least two new models, and a cloaking device technology that has allowed the facilities to remain undetected for all this time." She paused.  
  
"He also began the first alleyways into human cloning and genetics research. His project was named Genesis, and its basic purpose was to create human super-soldiers. He created them by using DNA from animals and incorporating it into theirs, so that they were human animal hybrids." Relena looked into Xiran's face, focused intently on what she was saying. The girl's expression was carefully controlled.  
  
"This is where the terrorist attacks come in. After his initial failures with the hybrids, a first generation of successes was born, all enhanced and able to function like normal human beings. Immediately he began testing them, training them, and he set about to using them for his own purposes. He discovered that he could make the soldiers even stronger, and so he began working on the second generation of hybrids.  
  
While this was going on he deployed his most highly trained officers to earth, to begin only God knows what. I think he sent them to cause these terrorist attacks to raise confusion and conflict between the nations. For reason unknown.  
  
However, his biggest concern was one of the second generations. Her name was Six of Ten, because she was the sixth out of the ten subjects made. She was a panther human hybrid, and the strongest second. He assigned her to the Raven project." Xiran stopped and ran a hand through her hair.  
  
"Raven was basically the project for taking out forces that could stand in the way of Genesis. She was trained by the best in the facility to track and kill. Her first targets were the Gundam pilots, that much I know for sure, but there must be others that I don't know about."  
  
Relena now understood some of the reason for the grave looks in the faces of her friends, and she held her hands tightly together in her lap. Things were looking far, far worse than originally anticipated. Still, Relena kept her head. It was possible that the girl could be misinformed...or lying. As of yet there was no evidence to back up what she was saying. Xiran continued, "The Raven was one of the most highly trained, and she was also the most unstable. She had several accidents or incidents that I can remember, most of them dealing with her superior officer, 57. It seems she had problems with authority. Anyway, she was almost always black and blue from training and chastisement, and to make things worse, the DNA of the rest of the One to Tens was unstable, and they were all slowly dying. It was terrible to see them. Her only companion, Three of Ten, was also deteriorating, and I think it was slowly killing her. The human ranks were afraid to cross her path. With her  
growing pain and frustration came a shorter temper, and often she would appear in the halls in a rage. 57 was slowly losing control of her, from what I heard, so..." Xiran stopped for a moment. The silence was deep, and Relena could see that even Duo looked grim.  
  
"He killed Three of Ten. Right in front of her, as punishment."  
  
Relena put a hand to her mouth. Xiran's face remained coldly expressionless.  
  
"I didn't know how the Raven would deal with it. The last I saw of her before the final day was in the halls. She was cold, simply that, nothing more. Her eyes were those of someone dead.  
  
Several days after that the order came through that the final tests on the seconds were going to be made. The Raven had gone about her regular missions and training exercises like normal, but 57 had assigned a tail to her every move. An hour after the final tests, we began to discover something was wrong. The tail was missing." Her eyes became hard.  
  
"She is now called the renegade hybrid, for her actions on that day. She destroyed the Genesis labs, and all the information and results from the One to Ten's testing. I was at this point dealing with the Second Generations, having been reassigned when 57 began slowly losing control. That is why I had access to so much information, and why I knew what was happening to the Test Subjects.  
  
It was Six's will that she leave the facility, and she would do it at all costs. I knew this the moment the security systems became infected with a crippling virus, and when we understood that the doors to the Genesis labs had been jammed shut." Xiran shook her head.  
  
"The renegade took many lives with her when she left the facility. More than she had ever taken, and more than enough to avenge the nine who had been her brothers and sisters. We fought, but even though we tried, we were no match for the hybrid's rage, and Arcon's genius. She....was like a demon. The total blackness and iciness of her gaze was the only thing that changed in her face. She showed us no mercy. But....the worst was when she finally reached her mobile suit. Then she had the power of the gods at her disposal, and I think she was mad. She began laying waste to everything.  
  
It was she who shot me. I saw into her eyes at that moment. There was nothing. Nothing! She cared not, and even if she did, she had lost her control.  
  
"Before we could deploy mobile dolls she had cloaked herself and was gone. The soldiers suspected that she had gone to earth, and it was confirmed by reports of a suspected meteor entering the atmosphere at that time." Relena saw the pilots exchange a look over the table. Duo emitted a humourless chuckle. Relena thought of Operation Meteor. It had been the beginning...  
  
Xiran had stopped and was looking at them, her face almost sad. She began again, "After the renegade left, and took with her the lives of many I cared about, it wasn't necessary to stay any longer. I didn't want that life anymore, and I took full advantage of it the confusion after the Raven's departure. War was not what I wanted, not again, and I didn't want to be a part of the force that might raise it. I decided to steal a mobile suit, go to earth, and try to prevent it if I could.  
  
"Which leads me up to where we were two nights ago. I tracked you five down to tell you this, so that we could have a chance against whatever Arcon has planned. I finally found you at that bar, but I messed things up a bit." She smiled a little sheepishly, then became serious again. "It is a certainty that there are Genesis forces trying to find me before I can give away any information. I'm sorry that I have put your lives in danger because of my actions." She looked down and some tension that Relena didn't even know was there passed from her frame. She looked weary all of a sudden, and Relena remembered that she had been shot recently.  
  
"So this is my information. There are fortresses up in space with massive firepower, hybrids on earth causing the terrorist attacks, a renegade out of control who might be looking for you, and Genesis forces currently trying to exterminate me. Any questions?"  
  
Duo chuckled. "None here...that I can think of right now. Give me an hour or so."  
  
"He means two days." Hilde filled in. Duo gave her a look. She laughed and ruffled his hair.  
  
Wufei rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Would you two please get your hands off each other for at least five minutes. This is important, you know."  
  
"Why, Wufei? Does our," Hilde suddenly clung to Duo, throwing one leg over his lap, "closeness offend you?"  
  
"No, its just impolite."  
  
"Impolite? Mmm, I'll show him impolite," Duo said with a wink. Hilde grinned. There were suddenly two people in one chair and a lot of laughter coming from that side of the table.  
  
"Are you done?" Trowa inquired mildly, fixing them both with his green gaze.  
  
Hilde resumed her seat.  
  
"Yes," she answered calmly. There was a brief silence. Quatre sat forward with his chin resting on his hands. "Do you think that the facilities were connected to Oz?"  
  
Xiran turned. "Yes, I think they were at some point. But I don't know why they were forgotten."  
  
Wufei crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Yes, Trieze wouldn't have let something like that slip."  
  
Relena stared across at Xiran, thinking. She refused to let her gaze move to where Heero was. She considered the girl's information. She hoped in some small way that it was true, so that they could at least know who they were fighting, but there was still something about Xiran that wasn't quite all there. She was guarded.  
  
Heero had been like that, still was like that, but she had seen small changes in him that made her happy. She would have given almost anything to see him laugh.  
  
Relena thought, well I will at least keep things out in the open. I won't hide what I think from them, and her. Xiran was sitting again, sort of staring off into space, with an almost thoughtful look on her face.  
  
"Aw come on Xi! Where is that smiling girl I remember! We don't need another one of these strong silent types! The ones we have are more than enough!" Duo teased. Trowa, Wufei, and Heero all turned to look at him. "Oh, look, I think Relena needs my council," He said, and moved quickly to where Relena was sitting, at the head of the table.  
  
"I'm not going to be your shield, Duo."  
  
"Hey! I thought you were all for the saving people thing!"  
  
"Sure. But I don't think you need saving. It'll be good for you. Just take it like a man."  
  
"Yeah. A man," Wufei said, cracking his knuckles. Hilde got up to join Duo at the head of the table.  
  
"Excuse me. This is my merchandise. You break him you buy him." Duo grinned.  
  
"Besides, breaking him is my job." She punched him.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Relena quietly cleared her throat. "Can we conclude the meeting, now?" They returned to their seats, Duo looking a bit nervous. Relena passed her gaze over them all. "Your information may be useful, Xiran, but you must understand that the Preventers must find evidence to back up your account before they act."  
  
Xiran nodded her head. "Of course. I didn't expect you to believe me in the beginning anyway. You have well founded reasons for your doubt."  
  
"As before mentioned, it's not like we were born yesterday."  
  
"Yes Duo," Relena said. "So I will contact Lady Une, Noin, and Sally Po to give them the information. We do have video cameras in this room, so you won't have to repeat this any more, Xiran. I think we should move quickly, even if what she says isn't true. Lady Une may be a target. I think it would be best for you five to accompany my aides in bringing her here. We can't risk that the lines may be tapped. I have a guard force, so you shouldn't worry about us. There is only a small chance that they could know Xiran is here."  
  
Heero looked at her. "You could be a target too, Relena."  
  
She looked into his face, so familiar in its blankness. "I know. The guards are the highest trained we have."  
  
"And she's got me," Hilde chimed in.  
  
"The mission won't take long. And Lady Une is a far more prominent figure. She needs all the security she can get."  
  
Xiran was watching them with a serious expression. "You have me here as well. And I agree that they might move on Lady Une first. I don't know all the capabilities of the hybrid forces, but I do know that it will take a lot to stop them."  
  
Heero said nothing. His eyes traveled to Relena, and then to Xiran. Xiran said quietly, "Only you can guarantee that no mistakes will be made."  
  
Relena took a quick breath as the two exchanged a long look, and said what she had been planning to say earlier.  
  
"Xiran please don't be offended, but there is no way for us to know if you're lying, or not telling us something. We will trust you up to a point, but there is no evidence that this is where you loyalties truly lie. Or whether there are part of your past you are hiding from us."  
  
Then she saw Heero look at Xiran, and something passed between them.  
  
(Flashback)  
  
*Silence after all her words had been spoken. It was done, she had completed the first part of what she had set out to do. Heero entered her room after the others had gone to bed, a shadow in the darkness. She had been faintly surprised, but some part of her had been expecting it as well. He stood quietly for a moment ,then moved to where she stood in the corner of the room. He asked softly, "Why are you lying to us?"  
  
Her face showed her shock at the bluntness of his question. Her dark eyes flashed, full of pain and anger.  
  
"You have no grounds to accuse me of this."  
  
"I know a lie when I hear one. You know more than you have said."  
  
She stared at him for a long time, several emotions trying to take hold in her face, her cold eyes changing and darkening. "Of course I do. I lived in that place my whole life."  
  
He waited. She almost yelled, "Must I lay my soul open for you so that you may tear my memories and mistakes from me? I have told you what is necessary!"  
  
"Not telling us may cost us our lives. The past can be dangerous."  
  
"Then tell me why you felt pain when I told you about the death of Three of Ten? Tell me why your face went cold and you looked away!"  
  
"My past is not important in this."  
  
"And mine is? I have told you what may be told, and already it is more than I have ever told anyone! Do you really want me to tell you how ruthless my commander was or why I have scars all over my body? Or how my friends died...because of the renegade. It was my mistake, I--"she broke off, looking away, unable to lift her gaze to his. Heero said nothing for a long time. He didn't look at her. There was too much memory in the room.   
  
Too much silence, filled with ghosts.  
  
"...One mobile suit hit a residential building." He said the words so quietly she could barely hear him.   
  
She looked up at him in surprise. He still didn't look at her. Xiran turned away. She whispered slowly, "The Test Subjects didn't die by the testing. I did it. I killed them. Six...she--they were innocent. But it was necessary..." She stopped as if she couldn't go on. She swallowed. "I called it mercy. They were...in agony." They didn't say anything for a long time. The silence deepened. "Alright." Heero said finally. Xiran didn't turn. She said, "I will... come to you if there is anything more." He said nothing. He left.  
  
She closed her eyes.*  
  
They broke their look and turned to Relena. "There is nothing else. And I understand what you are saying."  
  
She nodded. "Okay." The others came to stand around them in a rough circle. Their faces were serious. She looked at them all. "Then we make the first move, and together, we will face what is to come. United we will stand against terrorism and war."  
  
Relena glanced at Xiran.  
  
A wolf in our midst.  
  
Xiran's dark eyes stared straight back into hers.  
  
She thought, and so the game begins, Miss Peacecraft....  
  
END  
  
Okay, this chapter had dialogue so it bored me. Yes, I, the writer, bored myself. I consider this one a filler chapter, something that had to be said. The only thing I really like is the Duo/Hilde scene at the beginning. I was proud of myself for that one! But oh, the next chap promises more fun: arguing, fighting, and angsting. Read on!  
  
PS I actually had a cameo appearance in this chapter! Heheh...can you guess? 


	6. Fall

CHAPTER SIX: UNITED WE FALL  
  
"Heero."  
  
He turned as she said his name, his blue eyes coming immediately to rest on hers. Her gaze flickered to the rest of the pilots as they moved away and towards the cars waiting to take them to the city and Lady Une. They seemed to accept what Xiran had said. But something about the girl still bothered Relena. She had to tell him that, and also--  
  
"Relena." His eyes were questioning. She stared for a moment longer into the depths of them, letting her mind wander to times in the past when she had thought she had seen something in them that was truly him. His identity now was still a mystery to her, but she had seen glimpses past the soldier in him to what lay beneath. Whatever that was, watching her behind the ice of his cobalt eyes, had somehow...  
  
His eyes moved sharply to something at her back, just over her right shoulder. Xiran stood there silently. Relena didn't acknowledge her, and returned her gaze to Heero. He was still holding Xiran's dark gaze. The girl said quietly, "Good luck Heero. May your mission be successful." A sudden wry grin pulled at her mouth. He uttered a little derisive laugh that was barely above a sigh, and Relena felt her eyes grow hard. She struggled to rearrange her face.  
  
Heero had returned his attention to her, but she wanted this to be a private conversation. She turned to Xiran, "Would you please leave us? We have something to discuss." Xiran looked slightly surprised for a moment, then her eyes went from Relena to Heero and she moved away.  
  
[Duo]  
  
Duo looked out through the window of the car at his two friends standing at the entrance to the base. Relena's long hair curled in the wind, and Heero's hair didn't move at all. Xiran was a little off to the side.  
  
"Well, Heero sure is pimping today ain't he?" He reported cheerfully. Quatre looked up suddenly, his normally pleasant expression surprised. "What are you talking about now?"  
  
"Heero. He's being a whore," Duo laughed.  
  
"What!"  
  
"Just look at him there, with two gals, leading them both on...man he's good at it...unless he's so totally clueless that he doesn't notice..."  
  
"Duo," Wufei said evenly from the back. "Shut. Up."  
  
"You know, you could at least have a sense of humour."  
  
"And you could shut up."  
  
"Remember what I said about that pole?"  
  
"Bite me. Hard."  
  
"You only wish."  
  
"Why you-- "  
  
"Both of you, please sit back before I have to tranquilize you."  
  
There was a brief period of silence.  
  
"That was really good Trowa! Very believable. You almost had me going there for a second!"  
  
"And the funny thing Duo, is that you think I'm joking."  
  
Another silence.  
  
"Now that, that was-- "  
  
"Don't push it."  
  
"Right."  
  
[Heero]  
  
He thought Relena looked worried. She had remained calm throughout the telling, but now, when he saw her alone, she looked anxious. He didn't know if she believed Xiran or not, but something in her face and voice told him she was more than a little suspicious. He gazed into her face, thinking suddenly how innocent she looked. Her hair was caught by the breeze, for a moment obscuring her beautiful blue eyes. He looked away. What's gotten into you? Have your teenage instincts kicked in for the first time? How inconvenient.  
  
She said as quietly as she could over the wind, "Heero, I worried about you when you left. I sort of expected it in a way, but I didn't know whether you...were okay." She hesitated, and he saw her watching his expression, but he ddin't know what to do. "Now, it seems you've reappeared at my doorstep. It's like old times. Heero Yuy completing his missions, while Relena Peacecraft stays on the sidelines." Her smile was small. Heero chuckled without much humour. She was sad.  
  
"On the sidelines... Queen Relena?"  
  
"Barring that," she murmured. She still seemed distracted. He saw her gaze drift over to Xiran.  
  
[Relena]  
  
Xiran was watching them with her unreadable expression. It was starting to get on Relena's nerves. Just as she made eye contact, Xiran raised an eyebrow. Relena jerked her gaze back to Heero, who looked impatient, if that was possible. She said quickly, knowing that the wind was carrying her words away, away from that third person standing over there, "I still don't entirely trust her, Heero. We haven't got evidence to back up what she said. As far as we know, she could be working for these so called Genesis forces. And we havn't truly seen her fight before, not to her full capacity. She could still be a spy. There's something about her that is guarded, something she hasn't told."  
  
He was watching her with a strange expression in his eyes.  
  
"She deserves the benefit of the doubt, I suppose." He looked suddenly distant.  
  
Relena murmured, "I know, but I can still worry can't I?"  
  
"Do you want me to stay?" He didn't know how much she wanted to say yes.  
  
"No. Lady Une still needs more protection than I do. Besides, there's no real reason for Xiran to kill me, is there?" It was a poor attempt at humour, and she knew it. It came out sounding fake. When she looked at Xiran again though, the girl had an amused look on her face, even though she was no longer watching them. It made Relena nervous, and irritated. Why was she letting Xiran bother her? There was no real purpose in it. Xiran hadn't actually even done anything to make her irritated. Relena sighed inwardly. Just pull it together.  
  
Heero was nodding. He looked like he was going to leave. Then abruptly he stepped close to Relena and said quietly, "I'll be careful. Don't worry. We have connections to the security systems here. We'll know if anything goes wrong and if it does we'll be pounding up the front entrance within twenty five minutes at the latest." Relena was trying to ignore how close he was to her. She smiled at him, and said "Thank you, Heero."  
  
Without another word, he turned and went down to the waiting cars. She stared after him, trying not to notice that Xiran was doing the same.  
  
[Hilde]  
  
"Bye Duo!" She waved as the cars pulled out, and saw the answering wiggle of his fingers outside on of the passenger windows. She turned back to the base as the cars pulled out of sight, her expression rather close to one of Heero's. Duo's eyes had that gleam again. There was excitement and intensity and self loathing in that gleam, and it hurt her to see his violet eyes so full of it. Shinigami. Yes she had seen him fight. It had been there in those days as well. But in these last months with her, she had seen his eyes full of something else, something that made her happy. She sighed. My Shinigami.  
  
Hilde looked up as she mounted the steps to see Xiran and Relena also watching the cars out of sight. Xiran turned away first, moving back indoors, but stopped as she saw Hilde coming. She directed a hesitant smile at her. Hilde grinned back. Really, the girl wasn't so bad once you got used to her. It was just like the rest of the pilots...well except Quatre. Once you got used to them they were alright. Okay, more than alright in Duo's case, but he was an exception. Shinigami. The word flashed in her mind again as she met Xiran's gaze. He had seemed so strange this morning, so melancholy. She forced her smile to remain on her face as she fell into step next to Xiran, looking at the ground.  
  
Dammit. He had gotten close to telling her something a couple of times, but he had never been able to finish. He needed to get it off his chest. He'd probably been holding it in for years, the stubborn asshole. Hilde frowned. Something to do with the church. And it made him so damn sad, it made her heart want to break.  
  
Well, she knew ways to make him happy. Ah yes, she knew lots and lots of ways.  
  
She found she was grinning again.  
  
She wondered exactly what the term companionable silence really meant. She almost always felt the need to chatter, and even when she herself didn't feel like it, Duo would fill in quite nicely. She was walking next to Xiran now, had been for several steps, and was considering what she could say to the quiet girl. *I suppose Heero and Trowa can have `companionable silences', because silence for them is an actual form of conversation. But I can't...*  
  
"So...what do you think of my shirt?" Hilde asked, trying to sound bright. Xiran looked surprised, and somehow relieved, and she said, "Oh this one?" Hilde nodded. Xiran suddenly laughed.  
  
"It's great! Its really is. The irony is not lost on me," She chuckled to herself. "I suppose you got a kick out of sending it to Duo. Just what did he say about me?"  
  
"Oh not much. Only that you were somewhat like a distorted girl version of Heero...and really, come on, I have always wanted to see Heero in a shirt like that!"  
  
She laughed again. "Wouldn't we all? Though really, I can't see him being all that amused by it..."  
  
"Of course, that's hardly the point. The point is that *we're* amused, right?" Hilde said, with a grin.  
  
"Right!"  
  
They laughed.  
  
[Relena]  
  
The both of them seemed to be having a good time up there. She wondered if either of them had the good etiquette to remember that she was back here too. Relena sighed, banishing those selfish thoughts. Hilde's probably just trying to make Xiran feel welcome, at ease. After all, Hilde had long since charmed Relena, and it this moment it was best to be allies with Xiran, rather than enemies. Still, there was some part of her that was fuming from the looks she had been given on the stairs. She looked up at them again, as they moved past the big doors into the base's front hall.  
  
Relena thought, I was once someone that was admired. But what does that do for me now?  
  
[Hilde]  
  
"So Hilde. I didn't get any information about you. Tell me about the lone gundam girl." Hilde grinned at that.  
  
"Well, there's not much to tell, really. I was born on the L4 Colony, and when I was old enough to enlist, I went under the forces of Oz. There's not much to it from there. Some of the things they did were questionable, but...questioning your whole way of life is hard, and it took a long time to register that Oz's motives were not my own. Even then it wasn't entirely me. Duo rather...exploded into my life, literally. He turned everything upside-down." She laughed. "Nothing's really been the same since."  
  
"Yeah. It's a grand thing to challenge the system, isn't it?" Xiran said, with a trace of bitterness. "I had someone turn my life around too..." She stopped, but then after a glance at Hilde, went on. "He showed me how to live differently, that there was more to life than following orders. He showed me other paths to travel, away from what war had made of me. But the same things he was trying to protect me from, and the things that he was trying to get me to forgive, came for him anyway..." She looked so sad all of a sudden, it made Hilde want to give her a hug or something. She said quietly, "Hey, Xi, you don't mind if I call you Xi?--well you don't have to talk anymore. It's been a hard day for you, with these confessions and so on. You can lay off around me, unless you really want to."  
  
Xiran turned her dark gaze on her. Her face was, oddly enough, readable. She was surprised, and yet grateful for Hilde's understanding.  
  
They continued to walk in silence.  
  
Behind them, came Relena.  
  
The doors closed with a hollow banging sound, and locked.  
  
[Relena]  
  
Hilde had finally worked herself up to a good chattering mode, maybe trying to fill the uneasy space between Xiran and Relena. Xiran seemed amused and attentive to her constant string of words, but Relena was thinking.  
  
How did the girl get to earth anyway? The thought hit her hard. In a mobile suit? A shuttle? A gundam? She bit her lip, and then stopped, remembering that such behaviour was unladylike.  
  
"So anyway, after they infiltrated...."  
  
Great. Hilde was relating the whole saga of how she helped the pilots with the war. Relena went back to her thoughts. If Xiran somehow had come in a gundam, where had she hidden it? Or if she was working for the other forces, or even the terrorists, how would she communicate? There were so many possibilities. She momentarily regretted sending all the pilots to get Lady Une. Then she shook herself. It will only be about an hour and a half. What could go wrong?  
  
With some surprise, Relena realized that they had stopped. Xiran was looking up at a painting on the wall. Hilde was next to her, in respectful silence. Almost in awe, Xiran stepped forward and raised one hand, to run it along the edge of it. Relena remembered that painting well. It was one of her favourites.  
  
"It's of the Pacific, somewhere in Canada. Its in the old style, hand painted and on real canvas."  
  
Her words fell into space. Xiran seemed not to have heard them. Her head tilted up, to take in the whole picture, of the brilliant blue green wave curling in the surf, and the rising sun splashing its yellow and red tones along the surface of the water and the sand. Relena watched her as her expression changed from awe into gentle pleasure, and a slow smile dawned on her face.  
  
"I have always wanted to see the ocean," she breathed, her eyes not leaving the painting. Hilde told her, "We'll go see it sometime together, okay? We can make a day out of it. You know, see the sights, swim, have a picnic... check out guys in tight bathing suits..."  
  
Relena watched as Xiran's face carefully rearranged itself so that what emotions had been there were slowly buried. The girl turned to Hilde, and replied, "It's a date." Her smile was oddly sad.  
  
Relena tried not to notice how her sadness and angst only made her more attractive. No wonder Heero and her shared that look, her mind whispered.  
  
Relena decided quickly that it was time to have a security check, and reached for the console nearby. It was embedded in the wall, and she pressed the activation button.  
  
"Rian, are you there? Rian." She paused. Her chief of security was never far from his communicator.  
  
Xiran was looking at her suddenly with sharp, navy eyes. Relena fought to keep her face totally calm.  
  
Xiran face slowly drained of expression, as if she had come to a decision.  
  
"Rian?" Relena said into the speaker. She threw a quick glance down the hall.  
  
"Ri--" Someone grabbed her hand and forced it away from the button. Relena looked up into Xiran's frighteningly expressionless face.  
  
"Xiran, what are you..."  
  
Xiran silenced her with her hand. Hilde had come up behind her, looking wary. Relena pried her hand loose from Xiran's grip. "What is it?"  
  
"I heard something."  
  
Relena wondered if the girl was hearing things. The hall sounded quiet to her. She looked to Hilde, who was also wearing a soldier's expression of concentration. Relena felt suddenly cold. It still doesn't change. A soldier I am not. I never have and I never will be. I can't help in a situation like this.  
  
Xiran's pupils somehow seemed to have dilated, and she was totally on edge, listening for sounds that only she could seem to hear. Hilde came up next to her. "What do you think is going on?" she whispered.  
  
Xiran didn't say anything for a long moment, unmoving, her face utterly blank with concentration. Then she turned to Hilde, saying quietly, "There should be some form of security in here, right? Well, for the last several minutes, there has been silence in this part of the base. In a place like this, there should never be that kind of quiet. I heard the sounds of people moving in here, just now, but the sounds were muffled, like they were trying to be stealthy. I think that we have some unwelcome visitors."  
  
Relena turned back to the console. "Well then, shouldn't we just..."  
  
"No," Xiran said quickly. "We can't risk it. Not over radio frequency, it could be monitored." She looked around the hall. "Did Heero say just how they would know we were in trouble?"  
  
"No...but I think that Rian, my chief of security, would know."  
  
Hilde had paused in thought. "I think that maybe they have direct connections to the security system here. So since we can't use the radio, we can activate the video monitors when we sound the silent alarm. Then they will be able to see what's going on." Xiran gave her an approving look. "Good job, Hilde."  
  
She shrugged. "I haven't stayed alive this long without acquiring some minor thinking skills."  
  
Xiran nodded. Her tone had become almost businesslike. Her words had a commanding quality that Relena recognized without much effort. After all, she had been around Heero for quite some time during the war.  
  
"Relena, where is the security center in this building?"  
  
She told her that the center was in the east part of the wing they were in now. Xiran frowned. "That's leading us close to the middle of the building," she mused. "I think they've started from the other side, so it will be cutting it close, time-wise." She looked at Relena again, her eyes holding that calculating look Relena recognized so well. "Where are the weapons in this place?"  
  
"Most of them are in the security center. It's the guard's base of operations..." Relena's eyes went suddenly wide. "Of course," she said almost to herself. Her eyes came up to meet with Hilde's. "This is the time of afternoon when the guard's are changing shifts! The people you heard may be the new guards, or else we are in a lot more trouble than I thought."  
  
Relena wondered for a moment if Xiran didn't know that already. Her face had not changed when she had told about the guard shifts, but then, faces such as hers were unreadable the majority of the time. *What if she's with the forces tracking us down?*  
  
"Xiran, are they Genesis?" she asked suddenly.  
  
Xiran had been talking with Hilde, perhaps making some plan of action. She looked up at that.  
  
"Probably. We may have made a colossal mistake in thinking they would move on Lady Une first. I didn't think that Arcon would really perceive your part in the game until later. It doesn't seem like his style." A brief uneasiness came over her features, but quickly passed. "Come on. We're running out of time. Where is the garage here? Can we get out that way? No...they've probably got that and all the other main doors blocked, if I know them as well as I think I do. Relena, you've got to have an emergency door in here someplace!"  
  
"Yes! I know where one is."  
  
"Okay then, let's run. You can tell me along the way." They took off down the hall, Xiran in the lead. Relena thought, God help us if she's one of them.   
  
[Hilde]  
  
Now this was something she remembered. The tension, the thrill, knowing that you were both the hunter and the hunted. Infiltrating Oz's base for that disk...well that sure had been a kick. This...this was bordering on the perfectly insane. Not only did she not really know what was going on, she was being led by a mysterious girl whom Hilde did not entirely trust, who apparently had superhuman hearing. To make things that much worse, Relena was here too, and she would be utterly useless in a fight. Hilde knew that she was going into a situation blind, and it made her uneasy. Oh yes, and don't forget, they were also completely unarmed.  
  
It was really turning out to be a hell of a day.  
  
They sprinted down the nicely furnished and carpeted halls of the base, which was really just a meeting place with Relena in charge. They stopped at every hallway junction, pressed to the walls, looking about for intruders. Hilde's heart was pounding with the tension. Around every corner could be a fully trained and armed hybrid or human soldier.  
  
They progressed quickly, Xiran keeping a breakneck pace, always in front and always on alert. Hilde thought, if she's leading us into a trap, we are so screwed. Then again, Hilde had a feeling in her gut that Xiran was not against them. She just didn't seem to be afraid, and that was what made her uneasy.  
  
So unafraid...  
  
Like Duo, Hilde thought suddenly. My Shinigami. The word seemed more like a prayer now than it had before. With a feeling almost like pain, Hilde thought, oh Duo. If I die here today, I don't think he'll--  
  
"We're here."  
  
The words stabbed through Hilde's rather morbid thoughts and brought her back to the present. Xiran was in front of the closed door. She made eye contact with Hilde. Hilde gathered herself and nodded. She put Relena behind her.  
  
Xiran held up a hand towards Hilde, that meant, You stay here for now. I'll go in first.  
  
Hilde nodded again, feeling tight and almost nauseous with apprehension.  
  
Xiran slipped through the door.  
  
For several long moments Hilde waited for the inevitable gunshot, but then nothing happened. Moving quietly, and motioning for Relena to stay behind her, she stepped into the room. It was a small dark place, like an antechamber, with nothing really in it except a storage closet and another heavy door, leading to the other room. The door was slightly open.  
  
Hilde listened for any sounds, straining to hear anything, and her eyes darted to the closet. Someone could be hiding in there, or there might be a weapon of some sort. Yeah, a broom would make a super defense. Sure to strike fear into the heart of any soldier.  
  
She motioned for Relena to open the door to the closet, and set into a fighting crouch. Oh yeah baby, anything coming out of there's going to have my foot up its ass.   
  
The door creaked as Relena opened it. The blackness inside was dark as pitch, but she could still see the glimmerings of tools. Hilde let out a sigh of relief, then reached in a picked up a three foot long piece of replacement piping. It was about three inches in width, and had a nice, heavy feel. She gave Relena a hammer. The door creaked again...  
  
But we didn't touch it.  
  
Hilde whirled, bringing the pipe up, and faced the other door as a huge soldier came through. He was bringing his gun up, and Hilde knew it sights were focused on her. Too fast!  
  
Someone leapt onto the soldier's back, and wrapped their arms around his head and neck. Hilde was sure he would have cried out if those same arms weren't choking him. Xiran raked one hand across the man's eyes and he tried to scream, raising his arms and trying to tear her off him. The gun dropped. Hilde rushed in with the pipe and hit him hard in the gut, driving it up into his ribs with all her force. He made a strangled noise, still thrashing, but she had hurt him, oh yes. Hilde brought the pipe back and her next swing started at the floor and ended in his unprotected face, as he tossed Xiran off into the wall. He went down, hands clutching his face, and Xiran reappeared at his side. She kicked him viciously in the spine, and he collapsed, but before he could utter a cry, there was a muffled sound and a spray of red as his brains hit the nearest wall. Xiran stood for a moment with the gun in her hands, breathing hard, then turned to Hilde.  
  
"Thanks. I owe you one."  
  
"Oh so now we're keeping score?" Hilde panted, still reeling from the quickness of the attack. Xiran, unexpectedly, laughed.  
  
"I couldn't have done it without you."  
  
"That's better," Hilde replied, with a tired smile. Xiran tucked the gun into her pants and took a step towards the door. She stopped, looking back over her shoulder. Hilde abruptly remembered, Relena. She turned to her.  
  
The look she and Xiran were sharing was not a pleasant one. Relena's face was surprisingly cold. Xiran's expression remained impassive. Xiran slowly and deliberately turned back to the door.  
  
"Where were you?" Relena's voice was quiet, but still held enough firmness to carry across the room. Xiran didn't turn. She said, "I got around him and was going to attack from behind, or give you guys some warning. Then he heard the closet door open, and he went to check. I didn't have time to reach him earlier, and I couldn't yell. Are you happy now?"  
  
"Was he a hybrid?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"Hey guys," Hilde said, trying vainly to get them to stop. "We have a mission to concentrate on here! Xiran, please just give her a straight answer. I'd like to know too."  
  
Hilde thought she heard Xiran sigh. "Yes...he was. That's why it took so much to bring him down."  
  
Hilde said, "Alright. Let's move. We don't have time to talk here."  
  
They moved into the security room. It was hexagonal, most of its wall lined with sensors, buttons, lights, and screens, and in the front of the room, or what could be said to be the front of the room, was a swivel chair.  
  
Relena put a hand to her face to stifle a gasp, but she didn't turn away. Hilde felt her own face become hard, and her hands tightened on the pipe. Xiran moved forward and gently closed the wide and staring brown eyes of the man in the chair. His Asian face was set in an expression of shock. Hilde heard Relena whisper, "Oh Rian." His throat had been slit, almost to the bone. Xiran quickly moved past the dead man and to the computer controls. She activated the video monitors. Six screens lit up, showing the inside of the building. After a moment she turned back to Hilde and Relena. She said, "There are at least fifteen of them. It's a mixed attack squad. I've activated the security alarm, but we don't have time to actually talk to the pilots. We have to move now. They're coming and they're coming fast. Relena, where is the secret door and where does it lead?"  
  
"Out to the field. There's a bunker, bomb shelter thing there. As for the door, just follow me."  
  
"No." It was Hilde this time. "You've got to stay behind us. Tell me where it is. I know this building."  
  
Relena's eyes flashed.  
  
"Right. Let's go."  
  
They were once again running through the halls. They were still fleeing from an enemy that they couldn't see, they were still being led by a weird girl, and she still felt uneasy, but hey, Hilde had a gun in her hands that made an Uzi look pathetic. She was feeling a hell of a lot better.  
  
They had raided the security's weapons with Relena's code, and were now making a mad dash back to where they had come, to a room that would lead them out into the field. Hilde still had some small doubts about Xiran, but she trusted the girl enough to hand her the same gun she now held in her hands. Hell, she'd probably even give her a bazooka if she had to. Xiran was better with guns than Hilde was, and Hilde knew it.  
  
They were close now, and they hadn't seen anything yet, but the tenseness in Xiran's face was enough to make them run like rabbits. Hilde remembered the look in her eyes as she touched the dead man. Yes, as far as things went, she trusted Xiran. Liked her, even. It just might turn out all right, Hilde thought, as they entered the home stretch, with the room in sight.  
  
Xiran suddenly darted into an open room. Hilde quickly followed suit, yanking Relena along with her. The body of a young man lay sprawled in the corner of the room, face down, his hazel eyes still open in an expression of shock. Hilde saw Relena's jaw clench. Xiran's face was grim, but not because of the body. "There is a group of them in the room," she said in the softest of whispers. "I think they're checking it for something. I don't know, they may suspect there is a secret door there. But whatever it is, we don't have time to wait for it. The others are almost on top of us." She looked straight into Hilde's eyes. "I'll go in and take as many out as I can. I don't want either of you to be involved. You have to stay back and watch my back, okay?" Relena said nothing. Her eyes were wide and afraid. Hilde tried to protest, but Xiran held up a hand. "It has to be this way. I have more experience with their tactics, and I work better alone. I don't want you to get hurt." Hilde  
bit her tongue. You bloody idiot, she thought.  
  
Xiran took out her backup gun, so that she had one in each hand.  
  
"Wish me luck." For a moment she took a steadying breath.  
  
Then she ran out into the hall. Half a second later, there were the sounds of gunshots and screams. Hilde thought, here we go again...  
  
[Quatre]  
  
The car ride was rather nerve wracking, even though most of the time car rides soothed him. He supposed that this was an exception because they were on the verge of another war, Lady Une, head of the Preventers, was in the seat next to him, Relena and Hilde were back at the base with an unknown girl, Wufei was within an inch of murdering Duo, and Trowa had been almost totally silent for the entire day. Quatre sighed. Now all that could happen to make this day much better is--  
  
The alarm went off.  
  
For a moment there was dead silence. Then Heero reached over and grabbed his laptop. He flipped it open, the screen at once flashing with images from the base. He tried the audio comlink. "Hilde? Relena? Hilde!" No response. Duo shoved his way next to Heero and glued his intense violet gaze to the screen. "Wait! There!" He jabbed his finger at the screen as one image flashed by. Then with a curse he got up and threw the driver into the passenger's seat. He got behind the wheel and drove the gas pedal viciously to the floor.  
  
Quatre felt the car leap forward. He watched Heero as he isolated the specific cameras and directed his mechanical eye throughout the house. Then Quatre saw what Duo had seen: people dressed in black moving throughout the base, looking like a fully equipped attack team. *Oh no.*  
  
Then Heero's face froze. The footage on the screen...  
  
Quatre said tightly, "Duo. As fast as you can, go!"  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Four of them were down. Four! Only four. Bullets ripped through the wall around her. She ran, using every skill she had at her disposal to dodge the fire of the three still left. Two were human, the other, a hybrid.  
  
There was no cover in the fucking room! She threw a small explosive and hurled the dining table hard onto its side. It was backed up with some sort of material, but she didn't know how long it could hold. She put her back to it, and then whirled out of its cover, her weapons blazing. The bullets impacted the smaller female human. She jerked with the force of the shots and fell. Explosions sounded next to Xiran's ear. Too close for comfort! She threw herself back into her shelter. One slug had grazed her calf. She reloaded in seconds.  
  
Pounding footsteps! One of them was coming over the table at her! Xiran whipped to the side and brought her gun up as a soldier came over the table and on top of her. She got him through the leg, and he cried out, but that didn't stop him from coming down hard into her ribs and stomach. He ripped a gun from her grasp. They grappled for a moment, and he hit her hard in the face with his gun. She allowed his blow to put him off balance, and brought a small knife up from her waist. It was in and out of him six times before he could shoot her, and he went limp on top of her. Gasping, her vision blurry, she threw him off, only having seconds before she was sure the hybrid would be on her. She fired randomly at the area the hybrid had been in last and dragged herself into a crouch. Where was the hybrid?  
  
She rolled as gunfire exploded into the wall around her, and into the table. Plaster and dust rained down on her. The table was kicked away. Shit! She fired, but the female hybrid dodged. The hybrid threw her own smokescreen, and then a chair came a Xiran's head. It clipped her injured shoulder and knocked the hand holding her gun.  
  
"Don't move." The voice came out of the fog, hard and clear. "You know I won't have any qualms about shooting you."  
  
The hybrid stepped closer, gun trained on her. She said, "Drop it." Xiran didn't move. Suddenly there was a bullet hole in the wall next to her head. She didn't flinch.  
  
"Drop it now."  
  
The hybrid cocked the gun.  
  
Xiran raised her chin, her eyes strangely calm. "Kill me then." *I deserve it...I know I do. You should know that...* There was no way she could escape a bullet at this close range. Maybe it would be for the best. She felt her grip tighten on the handle of her gun. Not too many rounds left. But enough...enough for this one...and maybe herself.  
  
Xiran locked eyes with the person standing across from her.  
  
She saw the hybrid's hand tighten on the trigger.  
  
She began to bring her own gun up--  
  
NO!  
  
[Duo]  
  
Heero's eyes widened. Duo saw his face in the rearview mirror. "What is it?" he snapped. "What is it!"  
  
*God, if it was Hilde...don't let it be Hilde...*  
  
Heero looked up at him. "It's Hilde."  
  
Duo thought, oh fuck.  
  
[Relena]  
  
Before she could shout a word, Hilde leaped through the door and threw herself in front of Xiran, gun raised and pointed at the hybrid. Xiran's expression of shock and surprise barely had time to register before the sound of two shots rang out.  
  
"Hilde!" Relena screamed, raising her own weapon. If both those shots went into her, she's dead! Relena's mind yelled frantically. She saw Hilde jerk and fall back a step, and the hybrid staggered too. Then from behind Hilde, like an avenging angel, came Xiran, an expression of rage distorting her features. The hybrid fell with at least six bullets in her torso and skull. Relena stopped, heart pounding, and watched as Xiran steadied Hilde, who had one hand pressed to her chest. Hilde's face was pale, and Xiran's expression was full of such anguish Relena wanted to turn away.  
  
Suddenly, Xiran's head jerked up and her eyes widened. She screamed, "The door!" Relena unthinkingly turned and threw her whole weight against the paneling of the door, and it slammed shut. She hit the bolt home. Several seconds later, they heard the sounds of people running in the hall.  
  
She turned back and Xiran's face was once again blank, and she was tearing strips of cloth for Hilde's wound. "Come on, let's go."  
  
Xiran looked up at her, and then nodded. Then she went and grabbed new guns and ammunition. Down the halls, Relena heard the sounds of doors being thrown open.  
  
The secret door really wasn't really well hidden, but you had to know which part of the wood paneling to pull up to find the switch. A trap door lowered in the floor. They hurried as best they could through the old tunnel. It opened in a hillside about half a mile from the base itself. By this time, Hilde was covered in a sheen of sweat, and Relena was definitely worried.  
  
The field they were in was mostly flat, but there were several ditches and holes that they could hide in. The grass was both long and short, and rustled in the wind. The clouds had crowded the uneasy sky, dulling everything into greyish tones. They moved from cover to cover, heading as fast as they could towards the shelter. They ducked down into another shallow ditch.  
  
"Are we almost there?" Hilde asked tightly.  
  
"Not yet." Xiran's voice was flat.  
  
"Relena, how much longer until the pilots get here?"  
  
"I'm not sure. Maybe twenty minutes."  
  
"Too long," Relena heard Xiran whisper. "Too long..."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because they've picked up our scent. They've found the room already and at least five have reached the edge of the field by now."  
  
"How can you be so sure?"  
  
Xiran's look was irritated. "One, I worked with them for more than six years, and two, I can see three of them, right over there." She pointed. Relena said nothing, thinking some very unpleasant thoughts, most of them circling around the girl next to her. These thoughts, were however, banished by a sudden surge of relief. She pointed at the shelter. "We're there, Hilde! Don't worry," she said to the pale girl. "We're safe now." Relena studied the squat grey shape of the shelter, lying about twenty meters away, at the bottom of a long but shallow hill.  
  
Xiran's cold gaze hadn't changed. She was watching the group of soldiers intently. "Okay," she said, "When I say go, we go on hands and knees to the high grass, and then down the slope."  
  
Hilde sat up with a grimace. "Alright, Xi. On your word."  
  
Xiran exchanged a look with Relena.  
  
"On your command," Relena said coolly.  
  
Xiran nodded. All three of them waited, listening to the rustle and sigh of the grass in the field, hoping perhaps, to see the cars pull up in the driveway, and the pilots leap out.  
  
Relena hoped that Heero would get here soon.  
  
Hilde wished for Duo.  
  
Xiran said, "Go!"  
  
[Hilde]  
  
The sound of the door closing seemed like a wonderful thing, somehow close to the sound a gun makes at the end of a race. Hilde let herself sink back on the padded bench, trying not to dwell on the pain in her left side. The sudden relief of tension was like a breath of fresh air. She looked over to where Xiran and Relena were. Relena was rustling through the supply cupboards and shelves, looking for the first aid kit and possibly some snacks. Hilde was hoping for some hard liquor...but the chances of having some and Relena allowing her to have some were pretty slim.  
  
Xiran was hanging back near the door, reloading. Hilde wondered if she was hurt, and opened her mouth to say something, but a sudden stab of pain obliterated that thought. She must have made some noise, because Xiran looked up and came over. Her expression seemed to soften as she approached, and her blue eyes were concerned.  
  
"Hilde..." she said with a small smile. "You sure are one crazy woman, you know that?"  
  
Hilde stifled her laughter, not wanting more knives in her chest. She smiled tightly.  
  
"Damn straight."  
  
Xiran laughed softly. Then her eyes became more serious. "How is the pain?"  
  
Hilde shrugged. "I've been better. How are you holding up?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
Xiran gave her an amused look. "I'm okay, really. I'm the one whose supposed to be worrying here, not you."  
  
"So you're saying you're okay."  
  
She laughed again. Hilde noticed how it brightened her face, made her seem almost...well, normal.  
  
"Yes, already! But Hilde..."  
  
"You'd probably say that if you were cutting off your own leg."  
  
"...Hilde, I'm going back out. I need you two to stay here. Just remember not to open the door, not to anyone, or for anything, after I leave."  
  
"You're not serious." It was Relena from behind them, holding a first aid kit. Xiran turned back to her. "Yes."  
  
Relena drew her away to the door, but Hilde could still hear them.  
  
"No. I won't let you do it. It's senseless Xiran, you could die for nothing. Don't throw your life away!"  
  
There was a brief but icy silence.  
  
"That's not what you really think. You just don't want me to go out there and talk to my 'comrades'. You think I'll come back and murder you in your sleep." Xiran's voice was totally cold. Relena didn't say anything, didn't deny it.  
  
"I'll do my best to stay alive, but I can't stay here knowing that the chances of the pilots coming before they break down the walls of this place are close to nothing. I can't do that."  
  
"I saw your face, back there in the room, Xiran. You didn't care if you died! I've only seen that in two people before... " she stopped painfully. "I won't let you go on a suicide mission!"  
  
"And what if I was to die? I can't think of one person right now who would miss me. Or shed a tear. Not you, not Hilde. Even if the pilots cared, they would not cry. They are carved out of ice. The same mold as I was. It hasn't changed. I was bred to be this. And I can't escape it. "  
  
"No. You know that isn't true."  
  
"But do you? You don't know me. Do you really know them so much better? They can't show themselves to nearly anyone. All there is are actions, what they did. Do actions speak louder than words, Relena? Then again, perhaps I'm asking the wrong person."  
  
"If you do become this thing you're so afraid of, then it will be your own fault. There is no fate that you cannot shape for yourself. Heero taught me that."  
  
"Oh did he?" Hilde saw Xiran's bitter smile. "I'm sure he did. You couldn't take your eyes off him Relena, I saw you. So you love the ice cold soldier? Does the fact that he needs some beautiful, warm hearted girl to come and melt his heart excite you? Do you want to help him, heal his little booboos?"  
  
"You mock me. But I can see right through you. What hurt you in the past to make you so bitter Xiran? Who hurt you?"  
  
"Relena Peacecraft, you surprise me. Unnaturally perceptive you are. But you can' t know my life. Don't even try." She held Relena's angry gaze for a moment longer, her own eyes dark.  
  
" ....I wouldn't want that for you."  
  
With one glance back over her shoulder, straight into Hilde's eyes, she opened the door and left.  
  
[Relena]  
  
She clenched and unclenched her fists. That girl! Relena fought to keep her cool. No, no more comparisons to Heero in her mind. No, the girl was too much of a talker for that one. And the things she said...Relena's teeth ground together.  
  
Xiran had left about ten minutes ago. The sound of gunfire through the heavy walls was hard to hear. Hilde was lying back, sleeping, beneath a blanket Relena had found. She would be alright, thank God. As long as the pilots got here soon.  
  
Relena was still angry, but worry had also begun to filter in. What if Xiran needed help, was dying out there on the field? Even though her words had been harsh, Relena didn't want her to die like that. She really didn't want her to die at all. She only wanted to give her a good talking to. Or something like that. With a glance at Hilde, hardly knowing what she was doing, Relena picked up one of the guns Xiran had left and went to the door. With a quick breath, she opened the door and pulled it shut hard behind her. She heard the door lock. The sound chilled her.  
  
The wind had picked up, and the sky was darker than she remembered, pressing down on the shifting grass of the field. Relena looked up the slope. The sound of gunfire shattered the air.  
  
She ran, heart pounding, and lay flat at the crest of the hill.  
  
There were holes in the soft dirt everywhere, signs of fast movements and scuffles. There were also larger blast holes, possibly from explosives. On the ground, were two human soldiers, staining the ground with red. There was another body also, lying twisted near the edge of a ditch. The last two standing were obviously hybrids, the first she had seen that actually had distinctly animalistic features. They had obviously regrouped, and now were in a defensive position on high ground, surrounded by ditches, and not fifteen meters from the shelter.  
  
In a flash, something darted up out of the low ground. It was Xiran, her eyes coldly intense as she propelled herself towards her enemies. The unarmed hybrid saw her and yelled, and the other whirled, gun firing. Xiran went low and dodged in a movement so smooth that her stride was unbroken. Dirt sprayed up beside her. She faked to the side and closed the distance between them. The gun was knocked to the side and she hit the hybrid with full force, one leg in his stomach and an elbow to his head. As he went down she went for the gun, but the other was too quick. Xiran made a small sound as the hybrid's foot hit her. She fell. Her legs lashed out almost immediately, smashing the hybrid's knees. She was whirling to get up when the other hybrid grabbed her and twisted her arms behind her back. She thrashed her legs and was going for his crotch when the other rose up and delivered a full blow into her gut. She didn't have time to block. Her movements became less violent and the  
second hybrid grabbed her legs. Xiran was suspended between them, gasping for breath, her eyes still wide and full of cunning.  
  
"So now what are you going to do?" Relena heard her say roughly. Xiran's eyes suddenly fell on Relena at the crest of the hill. Recognition passed through them. Relena, with the gun sweaty in her hands, nodded.  
  
Xiran suddenly smiled wickedly and screamed out, "Relena!"  
  
The hybrids jerked, tried to turn, to look for an attacker, and Xiran sharply broke her legs free. The dull sound of her foot smashing into one hybrid's face brought Relena to her feet, and with trembling fingers she aimed and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshots nearly blew her ears out, and the backlash almost made her stumble. The hybrid tried to dodge her poorly aimed fire, but the bullets found him, and he jerked and hit the dirt. Xiran viciously twisted in the grip of the last hybrid, and turned on him as he tried to throw her off. Her knee went hard into his stomach and she fell down on top of him. Relena saw a flash of reddish silver. To her horror Xiran stabbed her knife hard into the hybrid's chest, right into his lungs. His legs jerked but Xiran straddled him and glared into his face. Relena started forward and heard Xiran say fiercely, "Who sent you? *Who*?"  
  
The hybrid said something that Relena couldn't hear, and choked, blood coming from his mouth as he spoke. Xiran's face didn't change. Her eyes were as cold as an arctic midnight. She suddenly reached forward and took his face in her hands, and Relena saw her lips move. Then with no change in expression, Xiran yanked his head hard to the side with a powerful twisting motion.  
  
Relena heard the sharp crack. The gun dropped from her fingers.  
  
"Xiran, how could you? That was a human being," Relena cried. "How can you be so cold? Don't you care at all for the people you hurt? Or do you just enjoy their pain?"  
  
Relena knew at once that she had made a mistake. Xiran had frozen where she knelt.  
  
Relena gathered her will about her and prepared for a fight.  
  
Xiran's face was expressionless. Relena could see nothing that betrayed the thoughts arrowing through her mind, not even the small flicker of emotion that Heero had in his eyes. It made her nervous.  
  
It suddenly occurred to her that Xiran could easily kill her.  
  
The wind suddenly blew a gust of chill air into the field, its icy breath swirling past them and ushering in the coming night. Xiran's hair curled like a living flame fed by the breeze, its undulating movements making her stillness seem all the more unreal.  
  
Eyes like an arctic night met Relena's blue ones with a terrible intensity as the wind rushed by them once more with a hollow rustling sound that lifted both girl's hair and flung it over their shoulders. Strands hung in both their set faces and framed them with daggers.  
  
Neither moved.  
  
Relena wondered how long they could keep this stalemate before one of them broke, but she vowed it would not be her. If Xiran resorted to violence, she would not fight. She would stand up for her morals and be strong, as her father had taught her.  
  
The air between them shifted uneasily.  
  
Then Xiran's face darkened with anger, becoming a cold, ruthless mask of expression. It was a frightening thing to watch as her eyes, seemingly unchanged, suddenly glinted with a fierce light. Relena almost took a step back.  
  
"Did you ever pause to think that maybe that's the only way I can deal with it?" Xiran said in a quiet voice, which was hard and even and held all the menace of the calm before a storm. She slowly straightened, leaving the soldier where he lay, and began moving in a slow, deliberate circle. The grass whispered and sighed around them.  
  
Relena firmly stood her ground, even as Xiran slid out of her range of sight and to her back. What was she going to do? Relena wondered as the wind once more shook the grass and covered the sound of Xiran's footsteps. "Those are the kinds of actions that bring conflict and war down upon us all," Relena said.  
  
Words suddenly struck her ears as Xiran threw them out into the restless rustling of the field.  
  
"Don't be so righteous. You think that I am a horrible person for killing this man, but do you know how many soldiers died for the Sanc kingdom? They died for you, for your cause, and then you surrendered them to Oz, where they were drafted as front-line soldiers. You have no right, Relena Peacecraft, to call anyone cold when you have not truly experienced battle. Sure, you made decisions which cost lives, and you were forced to watch the destruction of thousands, but you did not snuff the life out of a person with your own hands!"  
  
"It affected me in other ways! At least I can deal with my emotions without violence!"  
  
"There is no time for tears in war, Relena. No time for softness, or emotion. War is cold metal against flesh, machine scraping against machine. It's death in your face every moment and it requires action, whether it be heartless or relentless, to slip away from its grasp. Call it what you will. Cold, cruel, brutal, barbaric, inhuman, or pitiless, it's the only way to survive. Some people deal with it differently, of course, but you already knew that. Heero became as cold as ice, Duo started laughing so he wouldn't go crazy, Wufei fell back on his honour to keep him sane, Trowa lost all feeling, and Quatre...Quatre remained the most emotional out of them all. But you witnessed what this cost him. He nearly lost his mind, he destroyed an entire colony, and he nearly destroyed Trowa."  
  
Xiran stepped, in her unnerving silence, back into Relena's vision, her cold eyes still trained on hers. There was no outward display of emotion in her face, but her frame was as tense as a curled whip. Relena had the feeling that she was being hunted, studied to see if she was worth the trouble of a kill, and raised her chin. "And what did it do to you?"  
  
Xiran suddenly stopped and let her head fall, turning her gaze to the ground. Her arms crossed and an almost bitter smile touched her lips. "I think I became oddly like Heero and Quatre together...except I--"she stopped. "I fell...lost direction, a purpose. Too much died for a mere idea..."She faded off, finding some memory that made her silent for a long moment. Gesturing suddenly to the fallen soldiers, she turned back to Relena.  
  
"They died for a cause. For what the higher ranked wanted of them. They came out here with a death-wish, knowing that they were going to kill someone, or be killed in the process. It was either us, or them. Which you rather have had it been? It could have been you on the ground there, or me. Oh, but of course, you don't want anyone to fight, or die. It makes sense, Relena, it really does. But, it isn't always the answer.  
  
They came out here to make a deal with death. They lost. We won. Surrendering would have flipped the coin, and they would not have shown us any mercy." At the mention of mercy, Xiran's face shifted almost imperceptibly, but it quickly returned to its blankness. Relena made a move forward and opened her mouth, to say that she didn't have to kill him, but Xiran saw and silenced her with her hand.  
  
"Sooner or later, everything dies. In a war, it's the only definite thing. Almost no one expects to come out alive, and most people don't. Soldiers are expendable. Lives have meaning only in mass numbers. The final outcome is the only importance."  
  
As she paused for breath, the wind whispered softly into the dusk, seeming to fill the field with unseen ghosts. The shadows shifted and lengthened into the shapes of distorted hands and bodies. The wind increased and the rustling noises of the grass sounded oddly like feathers. Xiran seemed not to notice. Relena said quietly, "You know that it isn't always like that. The gundam pilots stand as symbols of what the individual can do. It's not always as savage as your experiences were!"  
  
Xiran stared at her. "Relena..." and looked away, turning back to her suddenly.  
  
"They still had to be strong! It is savage in that way! Only the strong survive to live the combat one more time, and the others die. That is what war is about: death. When you start feeling for every soldier, or thinking about the blood on your hands, that's when your decision comes half a second too late. This coldness can be the only thing an experienced fighter has left...but it's a different kind of death..."  
  
Xiran suddenly seemed weary, and for a moment she turned her face away to the approaching night. When she turned back she was once more the hunter in her domain as she stepped to the beginning of her circle and turned to face the girl opposite her.  
  
"It did not have to end that way." Relena's voice was clear.  
  
Blue gazes met across the cold, darkening clearing, and suddenly the wind ceased.  
  
Xiran's eyes were shadowed as night crawled over the fragile silence, and there was a glint in them for a second, which then passed as the wind resumed its uneasy sighing. At her sides, her hands clenched into fists. "Perhaps...but then how will it end? By doing nothing, we solve nothing, and you have no right to judge me!"  
  
Relena had the sudden feeling that she was seeing Xiran for the first time, the real Xiran. She suddenly didn't know what to think about this person who stood in shadow, who killed without expression, yet smiled so gently at a sunrise...and seemed to have a hold over Heero. She kept her voice even. "Perhaps it is you who has judged too quickly."  
  
Xiran's voice suddenly cut across the grey silence, carrying with it barely contained hostility.  
  
"When you have felt lives beneath your fingers, felt the power of the machine you wield wreaking destruction, felt the innocent needlessly suffer, felt your loved ones die around you, and still have a heart left, then come and tell me about how cold I am."  
  
They suddenly stood eye to eye, and Xiran leaned in nearer, her gaze drilling into her.  
  
"Until then, keep your goddamned mouth shut."  
  
A voice. The sound was faint and tenuous, but there all the same. Both of them looked up. At the edge of the field, and closing the distance, were the Gundam pilots.  
  
END  
  
Well there's the end of this little escapade! Whew! I hope you all enjoyed that! Seven is coming by this week! I hope Xiran doesn't bother any readers. Is anyone guessing yet? I hope I'm not being too obvious... Ah well, it was fun writing, anyway. The next chapter has a lot of dialogue...so it won't be as fun, but hey, if it was all fighting, then it would be Dragonball and not Gundam. 


	7. Demons

CHAPTER SEVEN: MY DEMONS  
  
[Duo]  
  
He came across the field in strides. He was vaguely aware that the others were behind him and following but he ignored them, focusing his attention on the two figures up ahead. His gun was in his hand, all ready for use, but unfortunately the attack squad had already been taken care of.  
  
Duo's violet eyes were burning. He considered breaking into a run, and then thought about how much one of the hybrids would benefit from being kicked down a hill in an iron maiden. He locked his gaze on the two figures at the edge of the shallow hill, and felt his jaw clench. He resolutely ignored the thoughts his mind threw at him as to why there were only two of them and not three.  
  
Both girls had looked up at his call. They were standing close together, looking decidedly pissed off at each other. Xiran looked a little worse for the wear, and Relena looked, as always, impeccable. Duo noted with a sick feeling that the smiley face on Xiran shirt was distinctly reddish. It was white before...I know it was. It was Hilde's shirt. Not an omen, not an omen, he repeated to himself.  
  
Xiran's face had changed from its state of irritation to one of blankness, and Relena's had done the same. Duo fought to keep his own countenance neutral. Oh sure, they just went and had a nice little squabble while Hilde was somewhere bleeding--that's just GREAT...   
  
A sudden flare of understanding passed through Xiran's features as he approached and she turned and disappeared down the hill. Relena came forward to meet him, her blue eyes flashing under the grey sky. Duo looked beyond her to the shelter, and moved to go past her, but she caught his arm.  
  
"Duo, she's going to be alright," she said. He stopped, for the first time truly meeting her eyes.  
  
"Right," he said distractedly. "Where--"  
  
"Here." It was Hilde's voice, tired but strong. He turned sharply, met her eyes as she came over the crest of the hill with Xiran supporting her. Her face was pale, her side bandaged. Duo felt his breath move out of his chest as he released a sigh he hadn't realized he'd held.  
  
The gun hit the ground. Duo reached out and took her from Xiran, his face curiously unchanging.  
  
The others stood slightly back. Duo held her gaze for a long moment. Then he put his arms around her, and an expression of relief touched his face. Hilde let her head rest against his shoulder, her expression weary.  
  
When thought finally returned to him, it was simply, She's alright, she's okay.  
  
"Ouch...not so hard, Duo." Her small smile was etched with pain, not all of it her own.  
  
"Oh right, sorry," he said quietly. His eyes didn't leave her face as he drew back.  
  
He thought, on the battlefield I am called Shinigami...  
  
[Trowa]  
  
He stood at the back, and watched.  
  
Duo and Hilde's embrace was painful, in several ways. Duo's usually animated face was controlled as he looked at her, and the burning in his eyes was hard to understand. Yet the relief in him that Hilde was safe was evident in his features. Or had been. Within a few seconds it had passed, and whatever lay there now wasn't understandable to Trowa. It was as if Duo had put on a mask.  
  
Relena Peacecraft was at the front of the group, and her eyes had found Heero, who was standing just to Trowa's right. Something had definitely happened between her and Xiran. Relena, who usually looked cool and composed at all times, appeared a little frayed at the edges. A gun lay near her in the dirt, and he wondered if she, the pacifist, had fired it. Her blue eyes were focused on Heero, and from what Trowa could see, Relena was trying to hide the yearning in her gaze.  
  
Wufei had been in a sour mood of late, and some of it was in his dark eyes, but there was another thing there as well that Trowa couldn't place. He had masked it too well in his anger.  
  
Heero was tense. Whether from Relena's scrutiny or something else, he couldn't tell. Heero's face often told as much as a cement slab, but he was a good man and every person here knew it, except the girl who called herself Xiran Ki'Era. Trowa saw Xiran's eyes flicker to Heero's for a moment, then away. Interesting...  
  
Trowa'a green gaze traveled to Xiran, who stood a little off to the side. She was watching Duo, and her face was almost as unreadable. Trowa supposed that it was the weariness in her that had made that crack in her façade. There was faint pain in her dark eyes.  
  
He had almost completed his observations of the group. There was only one more person left.  
  
As for himself, well, there wasn't much to be said. And if there was, it had already been spoken.  
  
"...For quite some time now my heart has been cold..."  
  
Ah yes, old memories. All of this observation and reminiscing happening in the space of thirty seconds. Trowa supposed that Duo, if he knew what he was thinking, would remark, isn't it wonderful what the military can do to a guy?  
  
Just then Duo lifted Hilde up as gently as he could and started walking back in the direction of the base. Trowa watched him go, seeing once more the unreadable emotions in his face.  
  
Heero started towards the dead hybrids at the same time as Wufei. Relena moved in the direction of the base, and Quatre went to help Xiran, who was starting to head for the base as well. Suddenly Xiran's legs buckled in mid-stride and she started to fall. Heero, closest, caught her.  
  
They didn't move for a long moment. She bent her head. "You guys are always catching me," Trowa heard her say softly. Heero said nothing. He slowly brought her to her feet, but didn't let go.  
  
"Are you hurt?" His face was totally and deliberately blank.  
  
"No." Xiran closed her eyes and drew in a breath. When she opened them again her face was as bare of emotion as Heero's was. They stared at each other for a moment longer.  
  
Trowa heard Heero say softly, "Did you know any of them?"  
  
Xiran's eyes changed imperceptibly. Finally she replied, "Yes. I knew them."  
  
At length Heero said, "I'm sorry."  
  
She smiled then, but it was bitter. "For what," she said, and began moving past him. He let her go. Heero stared after her for a moment. Trowa followed the general direction of his gaze and saw Relena. She was in front of Xiran and about a quarter of the way to the base. She was watching Heero.  
  
Slowly Heero turned and went over to Wufei, who was examining the hybrid bodies.  
  
Relena resumed walking.  
  
Masks on masks, Trowa thought dispassionately. There are so many parts to a person, and so many no one sees. Even ourselves. The next question is, with so much hidden, how well do we really know one another? His gaze drifted from Wufei and Heero, who were calmly retrieving a knife from the chest of one hybrid, to Quatre. His blond head was bent over to one of the other dead soldiers, and with gentle fingers he closed the man's eyes. Trowa's gaze lingered on his face.  
  
I have no masks because I have nothing to hide...  
  
He looked away to the body of the other soldier and began moving towards it.  
  
But even masks are something...  
  
Trowa suddenly looked up, straight into Quatre's light eyes. Quatre smiled at him sadly, and Trowa wondered if his face had betrayed him. How do you see that in me, Quatre?  
  
Quatre's blue gaze, as always, was honest and clear.  
  
Trowa's lips curved in the smallest of smiles.  
  
Everyone but you, Quatre. Everyone but you...  
  
***  
  
"Sally."  
  
"Yes, Une? How have you been?" There was the slightest of pauses. "Something's wrong, isn't it. Has there been any new information about the Chameleon Case?"  
  
"Yes. I assume you received the videotape. We've had some complications with the people Xiran Ki'Era identified as coming from the `Genesis' facilities. They attacked Relena, Hilde, and Xiran, in the process killing all the personnel inside the building."  
  
Sally took her time responding.  
  
"You have an ability with understatements, Une."  
  
Lady Une laughed softly. Sally continued, "Do you know who they were really attacking? Did they track down Xiran, or were they making a move on Relena? It is even possible that Xiran contacted them, or that they were trying to cover her and make her more trustworthy in our eyes?"  
  
"We don't know for sure. At this point any of them are possible. Xiran has her own theories, and so does Relena. All we have is the video-tapes of the encounter, and the accounts of Hilde and Relena. Xiran is still a wild card. If she's on our side, we've got a definite edge. If not...well, on both Hilde and Relena's accounts, she destroyed the majority of an elite attack squad. There were two still left in the building when the pilots came, and one of them was killed trying to get away. The other used some sort of lethal chemical and committed suicide."  
  
"Ah...I see. Complications indeed. Has she mentioned anything else about the terrorists or the attack squad?"  
  
"According to Relena, after she ripped through the last hybrid's lungs, she exchanged some words with him before she killed him. We don't know exactly what she said, but she's going to tell us after she gets some medical attention." Lady Une paused. "Hilde was injured in the fight."  
  
"She's not hurt too badly is she?" Her voice was quiet, and she trailed off.  
  
Lady Une heard another question in Sally's silence.  
  
"She's fine. She will recover in a week or so...and he's alright."  
  
She heard the relief in Sally's voice.  
  
"Thanks, Une." Still she hesitated. "Do you want me to come?"  
  
"Yes, Sally. The Kallam Republic can wait. I need you here."  
  
"You know I'll be there." Sally paused again. "Une...it was so sudden, the relocation. I think it hurt him. We wanted to spend time with each other after the war ended, but I was moved to this Republic watch so soon..."  
  
"I'm so sorry about that, Sally. Everything was happing very quickly, and I wasn't very well informed about it. The government personnel required that the best persons be moved, and you were one of those persons."  
  
Sally sighed.  
  
" Do you know if he's tried to contact me?"  
  
Une heard the pain in her friend's voice. She made her voice gentle.  
  
"Not that I know of."  
  
"Is he doing okay?"  
  
"I believe so."  
  
"Alright then. I'll be there in a few days. And Une, don't tell him. I want this to be a surprise."  
  
She heard the trace of bitterness in Sally's words.  
  
"Are you sure, Sally? You know Wufei doesn't take well to surprises."  
  
"He can deal with it."  
  
Lady Une smiled at her end of the telephone, glad that it wasn't a video call.  
  
"I will see you soon. Take care, Sally Po."  
  
"Arigatou, Une. Watch yourself well."  
  
***  
  
[Duo]  
  
One side of the room, other side of the room. One side of the room, to the other side of the room. Back again. Repeat. Keep walking, don't let yourself stop and think. Thinking is hard and could damage one's brain. Go from one side of the room to the other side...no! Stop thinking! One side to the other side...from side to side, wall to wall. Concentrate on the movement...yes, that's good. Step, step, step, step. Turn. Step, step, step...  
  
Okay, he thought. This is so not working.  
  
Duo Maxwell sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know you have problems when you start having inner monologues," he said to himself. Then he sighed again and rubbed his eyes. "You KNOW you have problems when you have inner monologues and then start talking about your inner monologues to yourself..."  
  
He returned to the chair he had vacated only minutes before, trying hard to keep his mind quiet. He sat.  
  
He crossed his legs. He uncrossed his legs. He started drumming his fingers on his knee, then realized what he was doing and stopped. He closed his eyes and sighed.  
  
The room was dim, full of shadows that played on the walls and lay beneath everything. A bedside lamp was the only light. Faintly illuminated in its glow was the clear plastic tubing of the IV.  
  
Duo was glad there was no clock in this room. The incessant ticking would probably have driven him right off his rocker. As it was, he couldn't seem to stop fidgeting, and his inner monologues were beginning to seem like a good idea. Almost. If they would only distract him from the thoughts that lay like the shadows in the room, beneath the surface of his mind. He could almost see them, hear them, and it was beginning to make him wish he was like Heero, and he never did that. Well, almost never. There were those times when everyone kept remarking on how Heero had such strength and how he gave them hope. There were also some days when he wished for Heero's lack of emotion, so that he could function like a normal person.  
  
"...sure, it's so easy for you to be normal..."   
  
Duo uttered a tiny laugh. Well, at least Xiran thought he was still sane. But coming from a person who was probably isolated from society, it wasn't much of a compliment. Ah well. Xiran. Xiran...Warrior. Spy. Semi-isolate. Who knew what to think of her? Not him. Definitely not Heero. He's confused enough as it is, what with coming back from his self imposed journey into the depths of his own mind, right into a war situation with two girls as opposite as night and day around him. Really, the situation was rather amusing. Xi might be an interesting kink in the Relena obsession. Hopefully no more of that brainless saying each other's name into the empty air. At least Hilde and I don't do that. We're not quite at that stage yet...and hopefully we won't have to pass through it. Ever.  
  
Duo cringed. You started into the inner monologue thing again! Okay, just sing a song, right, yeah, sing a nice little tune...  
  
The would be song died on his lips. He leaned forward and took the listless hand resting on the bed in front of him. The figure beneath the white sheets stirred. As he watched, the blue eyes opened.  
  
"Fancy meeting you here," she said with a tired smile. He squeezed her hand.  
  
"Oh you know, I was just around, and I decided to stop by." He was surprised at how light his voice was.  
  
Hilde stretched her legs. She wiggled her toes, sighed and relaxed.  
  
"Well I'm glad you were in the neighborhood, braided wonder. This damsel was glad for the transportation." He was unusually quiet.  
  
"Duo?"  
  
He looked up at her slowly. His voice was low. "Sorry. I was just thinking."  
  
*"One mobile suit is good enough, right?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'll steal one for you! In exchange for that, you guys get out of here! This is a place of peace!"*  
  
She was watching him silently.  
  
*"No it...it can't be..."  
  
"...Duo...may God...bless you...and...keep you..."*  
  
Finally she said softly, "Duo...thank you for coming. For being here, with me."  
  
His violet eyes changed. He almost felt them heat up.  
  
"Did you think I wouldn't come? That I didn't care? I thought--"  
  
"Duo! I only meant...that I'm glad. I know it's hard for you sometimes!"  
  
He shut his mouth.  
  
There was a moment of silence. Duo ran a hand through his hair and resisted playing with his braid. "Sorry," he sighed. "I guess I'm just a little on edge. You know, what with the sudden news that my girlfriend and two others had been attacked by people hell-bent on killing things, and that there might be a new war rising..." he shrugged. "The usual."  
  
She was still watching him.  
  
"Yeah, but it's a little different now, isn't it?"  
  
"Well I was kinda getting used to the idea that I might not die on specific days..."  
  
Hilde laughed quietly.  
  
"Ah, the elite soldiers. Xi wasn't afraid when the hybrid pointed a gun at her head, she wasn't afraid when she had to take on seven people, she barely even batted an eye. It's just like you...there just doesn't seem to be any fear." She trailed off, her eyes suddenly dark. "That's what scares me sometimes."  
  
Duo resisted the urge to clench his hands in his lap. He couldn't look at her.  
  
He took a breath, stopped, then began again. "I was afraid today."  
  
He felt her blue eyes on him as silence swallowed his words. When she spoke, Hilde's voice was filled with pain. "Duo... I'm sorry..."  
  
Without looking up he said, "Hilde, I never meant to complicate this. I never thought you'd get involved the way you did, but I didn't do anything to stop it. Don't apologize. What you did was brave. Stupid, but brave. If it had been anyone else, I would have applauded, but..."  
  
"But it was me."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Duo, I think I know what you're trying to say...Duo, look at me." He slowly raised his violet eyes to hers. Her face was gentle, but her gaze was firm.  
  
"We don't often talk of serious things. We often let what we know to be bothering us pass. It's not always the best thing to do, but we're usually okay. Right now, while I lay here in a slightly drugged state that has loosened my tongue, I will tell you this: It was my choice. I did what I did because I didn't want Xiran to die. I made that move knowing somehow, maybe not coherently, what the consequences would be. I don't understand why you seem to want to blame yourself for this hole in me. Duo, I may not be a Gundam pilot, but I am a soldier, and I know the finer points of action and reaction. I'm a part of this operation and I want to help find the people responsible for the terrorism, and who made Xiran the way she is. " Silence fell between them for a long moment.  
  
Duo's voice was quiet.  
  
" I don't want you to be involved in this."  
  
Her eyes became flinty.  
  
"So you think you have to protect me, that I'm too weak to defend myself? Is that--"  
  
"No, Hilde! I never--"  
  
"Don't you know how many times I thought you were dead, up there in space? How many times I looked up and wondered if you were being held at gunpoint, or bleeding to death? I would never know! You were a guerilla fighter, they'd never even tell me you were gone! I'd never know if at that very moment you needed me, but I wasn't there..."  
  
"Hilde...I..."  
  
"You can't tell me not to get involved, Duo. Not when you're a part of it too. I may not be as strong as you are, but I will not stand around and do nothing while you risk your life!"  
  
Duo's mouth opened and closed, but no words came. He turned away from her, hands clenching at his sides.  
  
You know there's no arguing with her in this state...face it, you've lost, Duo's mind snickered.  
  
Goddamn it, Hilde!   
  
"I just don't want to see you hurt!" His voice sounded harsher than he'd intended.  
  
He heard her sigh.  
  
"Well, I'd say that's on my priority list too, you know."  
  
Duo turned back to her. Hilde's smile was wry. "But I don't want to see you hurt either, my braided wonder." She paused and her smile faded. "I don't know what I'd do."  
  
He took her hand and traced her palm with his fingers. "Okay, obviously I can't prevent you from doing this, so I guess we'll have to reach some kind of agreement. Something that will somehow keep you--okay, both of us, in the line of fire and out of harm's way." He paused. "Well since that obviously can't be done, we'll talk to the rest of the pilots and assume that you're part of the force. But really, Hilde, if there is a big mission that involves mobile suits, I'd rather you stay behind. You know that mobile suits are more my strongpoint than yours, and I'm afraid if you're there I'll spend my time worrying instead of destroying. Please, Hilde, this is all I'll ask of you."  
  
Hilde sighed, her blue eyes somewhat uncertain. "All right, Duo. I'll agree to that...but just because I'm agreeing doesn't mean I'm happy about it!"  
  
Inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief. He smiled at her, as she lay beneath the white sheets, her hair sticking out all over her head, her eyes blue and slightly annoyed.  
  
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me. I am Shinigami."  
  
"Yeah well, you're my Shinigami and I have the same right to worry as you do."  
  
He chuckled, leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. "I know."  
  
Hilde tried not to smile. "Would you stop trying to butter me up," she said.  
  
Duo laughed. "Never."  
  
They fell silent for a little while, and Hilde's eyes started to droop. Duo got up and tucked her in. She grinned at him girlishly and he mussed her hair. Her eyes closed.  
  
When he went to remove his hand from hers several minutes later, thinking she was asleep, he was surprised when her eyes opened. They almost seemed to glow in the pale light.  
  
"Were you really afraid today?" He voice was barely above a whisper. Duo bent his head.  
  
"Let's just say that that last half hour after Heero verified you had been shot was a little difficult for me."  
  
Hilde smiled at him, a small faintly melancholy smile. She squeezed his hand.  
  
A little while later she fell asleep, her hand still in his. The shadows deepened and filled with darkness as the sun set, its light in the curtained window faintly red. Duo didn't move. Finally, he sighed and stood up, his face feeling strange. His violet eyes turned back to the bed.  
  
Quiet in sleep she was. And still as the dead.  
  
Duo turned sharply back to the halls and left, walked away from whatever lay in that room that brought the smell of charred wood to his nose, that made his face feel like a stranger's, that made him run from what he loved. Duo Maxwell didn't look back over his shoulder as he turned the corner, he kept his eyes straight ahead. When he got to his room he surrendered himself to the blackness and let his mind go blank. But still his closed eyes stared back at what he had done.  
  
[Heero]  
  
The night walked with the footsteps of the city outside of Onyx Five.  
  
He sat in the silence. The semi-dark was lit only by the pale glow of the screen that he was in front of. The whitish light in the room flickered over wires and the edges of computer equipment. Halls and doorways reflected in Heero's eyes as he watched Relena, Hilde and Xiran run to the security center of the Preventer base. There was no sound, the cameras were meant only to watch, not to listen. Whatever audio information that had been locked in the base's security mainframe had been destroyed by the hybrid. The stores of data that had been automatically sent to his laptop were the only concrete evidence salvaged from the base.  
  
Hilde was sleeping. The same doctor had returned and taken care of her (with a decidedly odd glance at the pilots, as if to say, again?) The wound was healing. Still, it had been a close call. Something Duo was definitely not happy about.  
  
Relena had disappeared back into the city, with promises to return as soon as Xiran was ready. Her eyes had been strange. Heero watched as on screen Xiran told Hilde to keep Relena behind her as she went to check the security room.  
  
Relena could have died easily, they all could have. How they had managed to stay alive was proof enough that there was something different at work here. Xiran had fought well, he had to admit that. But the key thing was that she had done it wounded, and with Relena, who was not a fighter.  
  
On the screen, the camera caught the last vestiges of the short, nasty little skirmish with the giant soldier in the security center. The dark spatter of the hybrid's blood against the wall, complete with the grey flecks of brain matter was the final action. Xiran stood over the corpse with the gun in her hands.  
  
He had questions. Not many of them, but enough.  
  
Heero pictured her expression as the doctor checked her over. It had been predictably weary, but the look in her eyes was far from predictable. Still, beneath her lowered lashes he found anger, frustration, and a shadow of something like shame. He knew it in himself, that small measured part of him that despised what he was. Self-loathing, some called it. Hah.  
  
Heero rubbed a hand over his eyes. The silent Xiran on the screen gave Relena a cold stare.  
  
He remembered that look. It was a predator's glance that revealed nothing. Yet he also remembered the plain surprise in her eyes when she'd hit him.  
  
He had, at the request of the other pilots, been the one to check up on her again after the doctor finished with her. (He suspected that they wanted to avoid a replay of the other night, with them being the ones with the mouthful of fist. But sure, it was okay for HIM to do it...)  
  
Heero turned his full attention on the screen and its flickering images as Xiran entered the room that the hybrids had chosen as a center of operations with a volley of bullets. Her technique was simple, but executed near perfectly. The quality of her fighting was top of the line. It was at least on par with his and the rest of the pilots. He quelled a sudden urge to challenge her to a spar.  
  
One of the human soldiers fell. The next she stabbed. The last hybrid finally held her a gunpoint. Heero watched their mouths move. He thought, I wonder if this was one Xiran knew...  
  
Beneath that thought his mind focused on the look on her face as the female hybrid pointed the gun at her head. She had been ready to welcome death with open arms. But then Hilde had stepped in the way.  
  
The look on Xiran's face as the bullet slammed into Hilde's chest was so intense so seemed like a different person.  
  
Why did I tell her what I did that night? he asked himself suddenly. He looked away from the screen as the girls vanished down the trap door. He sighed agitatedly.  
  
I guess I knew she wouldn't give me something for nothing...  
  
He looked up suddenly. Duo was silently leaning up against the doorframe, looking unusually flat. Heero knew better than to ask. Duo's violet eyes traveled from Heero to the screen, which showed only the empty room.  
  
"So...what new and amazing information have you gleaned from those tapes?"  
  
He shrugged. "Nothing much. What the girls have said is more or less accurate. The only problem is that once they leave the base, the video coverage stops, and we have no real way of confirming what happened."  
  
Duo said nothing, and the silence stretched onwards.  
  
"How's Hilde? Did she tell you what she saw?" Heero asked. Duo seemed to break out of his quiet mood and laughed. "Ah, she's alright. She's well enough to argue, at least." Duo moved into the room. "When I first brought her in she told me that she didn't see much. They got across the field without much problem, but once they reached the base, Xiran told her to stay inside. She passed out for a couple of minutes after Xiran left, and when she woke up, Relena was gone too."  
  
"Ah," Heero said.  
  
Duo paused. "It's going to be Relena's testimony against Xi's when it comes down to it," he said, and trailed off. Heero gave him a hard look. Duo put up his hands. "Look, I'm just saying that Xiran and Relena are not on the best of terms right now...as in, they're close to having an all out bitchfight. So I'm just saying that either or both of their stories may vary somewhat."  
  
Heero said, "Right."  
  
Silence fell once more, and Duo wandered over to the screen, where the tape had begun playing again. Heero stared off into space. In his mind was Xiran, looking angry and wild, and Relena, her blue eyes calm and full of an odd melancholy. Xiran was like the dark, Relena the light, totally opposite of each other. And yet...  
  
Heero didn't see the tape footage roll to the place in the room where Xiran was pinned against the wall. Several seconds later, a dark blur went across the screen.  
  
"Well," Duo said, turning away with a bright smile, "I guess I'll be getting back to Hilde, before she starts throwing things and yelling for vodka." He turned and nonchalantly wandered towards the door. He stopped at the doorframe. Without turning, he said, "Hilde trusts her. I don't know why. Maybe it's the morphine talking, but..."  
  
Heero stared at him for several beats. He said quietly, "Goodnight, Duo."  
  
"Yeah...'night."  
  
He was gone.  
  
Heero turned back to the tapes, his thoughts moving, flipping, and repeating like the frames before him. He leaned back and listened to the sounds of the building with his eyes closed.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Agh, she was sore. Walking was more effort than it rightly should have been. The penthouse was nice, but her room was on the top floor, which was reached by the catwalk, and that thing was a bitch to climb. She'd spent approximately one fifth of the past hour and a half trying to sleep and failing. About five minutes ago she'd decided that she'd get up and wander. At this point she was regretting it, but it was too late to turn back now. The high ceiling soared into shadow above her head as she stepped onto the bottom floor. There seemed to be silence at first, but to her trained ears the movements of the others could be heard. But she wouldn't think of them now. She moved to the room that could be qualified as the penthouse's kitchen. A warm smell was coming from it.  
  
Beneath the harsh light of the single fixture, Quatre's hair seemed almost white. He was sitting at the table, stirring the contents of a mug, his head bent as if in thought. She scuffed her heel at the doorway, loudly enough for him to hear, and he looked up.  
  
"Quatre," she said in greeting. He smiled.  
  
"How are you feeling?" he said as she sat down.  
  
"Pretty good, all things accounted for." His eyes changed a little at that. Xiran cringed inwardly.  
  
He stirred the contents of his mug for several moments. She looked down.  
  
"Couldn't sleep?" Her voice was soft.  
  
His shoulders shook with silent laughter. "No. There's too much on my mind. The fact that Wufei was having a session with the punching bag was probably a factor too, though."  
  
Xiran grinned. "Probably."  
  
The spoon clinked on the rim of the mug. "Want some?" He asked her, his light eyes gentle.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Tea. I like it more than the hot chocolate that's there."  
  
"Hm. I'll give the chocolate a try." Minutes later, she had her own steaming mug. But she'd found something else in the cupboard. "This has a fair amount of hype too," she said, lifting a bottle of Bailey's.  
  
"Don't get too carried away with that stuff," Quatre said. "It's pretty strong, from what I hear. Trowa's got a pretty good head for alcohol, but this got him a little tipsy." He smiled almost to himself.  
  
Xiran watched his blue eyes. So gentle, Quatre. How did you survive, being what you were? A guerilla fighter, someone who came in the dark to destroy?  
  
He seemed to feel her eyes on him, and looked up. His gaze was suddenly so clear, so honest, and so calmly intense, that she just stared into his eyes. She quickly looked away.  
  
His voice was quiet. "It must be hard for you, going against those who were once your comrades."  
  
She nodded wordlessly.  
  
"Were some of them your brothers or sisters as well?"  
  
"Yes, some."  
  
"You know, I have twenty-nine sisters," he said. "The movement to space affected many pregnancies, so they were all born artificially. I thought I was the same for a long time. I believed that I was merely an experiment, and I didn't feel like my life had any real value." Xiran's face showed nothing, but Quatre still held her dark gaze. "I almost grew to resent my life, but then I encountered an extraordinary group of people called the Maganacs. They were all born artificially, and were very proud of that fact. They taught me many things, but one of the most important was how to be aware of my sense of self."  
  
She was watching him intently.  
  
"Xiran. There was something in your eyes that day in the base that said you didn't care about killing or dying. You keep your distance from us but sometimes you seem more alone with us than if you were by yourself. I know we can't do anything to help you, but we can still be here for company when, or if, you need it." He paused. "I just want you to understand that even if you are a test tube baby, it in no way diminishes who you are. It was just a beginning; it cannot define you. It doesn't make you any less significant, or any less worthy than anyone else. I made that assumption before, but you don't need to repeat my mistake. Okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
The silence stretched on, broken only by Xiran stirring her hot chocolate.  
  
Quatre looked down at his cup, then directly into her eyes. "I can understand why you wouldn't have wanted to tell us what you really are, Xiran. Listen to me. You are not the enemy, and I know that. I'll respect your wishes for as long as you want me to."  
  
She stared at him quietly. Finally, she said, "Thank you, Quatre."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
She looked at him once more, as he sipped his tea, but her face didn't change. Then she slowly got up and left.  
  
Her feet took her down the hall. Before she really knew where she was going she was standing in front of a door. She didn't want to go inside, but her hand was already turning the knob.  
  
Hilde's blue hair was like a shadow on the plain white of the pillow. She was lying on her side, one hand curled close to her face.  
  
Xiran shut the door silently behind her. She approached the bed on soundless feet. Her face was typically unreadable, but even though her eyes checked over the IV tube and the bandages in a businesslike manner, her gaze lingered on Hilde's sleeping face.  
  
Hilde stirred suddenly. Xiran took a quick step back.  
  
Hilde smiled with her eyes closed.  
  
"Man that smells good. Oh, is that Bailey's I detect in there? Or a little Carolina cream?"  
  
Xiran chuckled. Hilde opened her eyes.  
  
"...Oh, hi Xi." Her smile brightened.  
  
"Sorry I'm not Duo."  
  
Hilde stretched. "Ah, that's okay. He's in worrying mode right now." Xiran grinned.  
  
"And you know he shouldn't be worrying, because you are perfectly all right..." Hilde rolled her eyes as Xiran sat down.  
  
"Oh shut up, you. And give me some of that!"  
  
Xiran held the cup away from her grasping fingers. "No way. No alcohol for you...at least not until you tell me you're okay."  
  
"I am!" Hilde snatched at the cup. Xiran pulled it away and took a luxurious sip, looking over the rim at her.  
  
"So you're saying that didn't hurt at all when you did that just now."  
  
Hilde's face had blanched slightly, but at her words the look vanished.  
  
"It's nothing a little of that couldn't remedy."  
  
Xiran laughed. "I'm sure." She handed her the cup. Hilde grinned.  
  
"Success!"  
  
"I know. I'm a softie. But really, are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. Are you?"  
  
"I recall having this conversation before."  
  
"I don't think it got very far..."  
  
"No. Not really."  
  
"Maybe we should stop."  
  
"Don't change the subject!"  
  
"Sorry." Hilde grinned impishly.  
  
"You know, Duo's really worried about you--"  
  
Hilde groaned. "Don't I know it! We had a very interesting discussion about that not too long ago. He was freaking out..." Xiran suddenly put a hand on Hilde's wrist, her eyes dark. She started to open her mouth.  
  
"No, Xi. Not you too! Jeez, I'm okay! It's not your fault, Duo's fault or even Relena's fault that I got shot! I did it! I threw myself in there and I knew what the consequences would be."  
  
Xiran said quietly, "Why?"  
  
Hilde became motionless. She said, "It really says something if you have to ask me that."  
  
Xiran withdrew her hand. Hilde watched as her face became like Heero's, blank and cold.  
  
"Look Xi," she said with unexpected fire, "You may not care enough to save yourself, but I care. You ask why? It's simple: I like you. Is that so hard to comprehend? It's a simple human notion. I like you enough to try and save you alright? Don't make this bullet worth nothing!"  
  
Xiran sat back. Her expression slowly changed into a look of fond surprise. "Whoa, Hilde." Her voice was quiet. "You have such fire and passion... I haven't seen much of that before. Don't you get *tired*?"  
  
Hilde suddenly laughed. "I'm incredibly talented, you know. I have amazing gifts no one knows about."  
  
Xiran smiled. "No one...except Duo?" A faint flush came to Hilde cheeks.  
  
"Maybe," she said loftily. They chuckled.  
  
"Well, I think you should return to dreamland now..."  
  
"Yah, those amazing and incomprehensible dreamscapes that occasionally contain people who talk out of their bellybuttons."  
  
"...I won't ask."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
Xiran got up and moved to the door.  
  
"Hey Xi! Maybe we can do this again sometime. You know, me, you, talking...some `stuff'...it was fun."  
  
She smiled. "Sure. Anytime. You know where I live."  
  
Xiran stepped outside and quietly closed the door. The smile faded off her face, and she ran a hand through her hair.  
  
"Well, it appears you girls have reached an agreement: Hilde lays in bed and pretends to be sleeping, while you sneak into the kitchen and smuggle the alcohol out. Then you both sit down and have a girl talk and get wasted." Duo was leaning against the wall outside Hilde's door with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His violet eyes flashed in the dark. Xiran faced him squarely, not sure of what to say.  
  
He suddenly grinned. "Personally, I think it's a great plan. You just need a little work on the secrecy. You left the bottle out on the counter."  
  
"Where you conveniently found it?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
Duo burped. Xiran moved to go past him down the hall, but he stopped her.  
  
"Xi. About today..." he began. She brushed away his hand, her face suddenly motionless.  
  
"What part of today? The part where we killed that soldier, or the part where I killed twelve? Or maybe," her voice became quiet, "what happened on the field?"  
  
Duo pushed away from the wall and stood in front of her. "No need to get your hackles up!" he said, throwing up his hands. "This mere mortal only wanted to know how you were feeling. Not physically, we all know you're really Superwoman."  
  
She chuckled. "All right, I'm sorry. I'm just a little on edge."  
  
"Heh. Aren't we all?"  
  
"I suppose so. Well, I guess I'm feeling okay. It was a little stressful for a while though."  
  
"That's an understatement. Xi, you protected two very important women out there today, and one of them is a bloody pacifist. That's a bit of an achievement."  
  
"Ah yes, Relena." Xiran murmured. "We know each other well now, more than either of us would like, I think. Hilde had a hard time keeping our claws out of each other." She smiled, but it quickly changed to a grimace. "She paid for it. I let the hybrid get the best of me. A stupid mistake." She looked away. In doing so, she missed the look in Duo's eyes.  
  
"Sure. One mistake. We could start calling you the Perfect Soldier In Training. Xi, you took out at least twelve well-equipped assassins, and you yourself only have a couple of bruises to show for it. If that's not top quality fighting, I don't know what is."  
  
She still didn't meet his eyes. "I don't know. Will she forgive me...?"  
  
"Or do you mean, will you forgive yourself? Hilde likes ya, and you know it. What is really in question here?"  
  
"Don't cross examine me."  
  
"Well if I don't, Wufei, Heero, Trowa, or even Relena, will. You're not the only one with questions. If you don't even know what you want, you may be in trouble."  
  
"That's great. And I thought I was in trouble when 165 threatened me..." she suddenly bit her tongue.  
  
"So you're saying you didn't enjoy it? Killing them, I mean."  
  
She looked at him sharply, anger kindling in her eyes.  
  
"Don't ever walk down those paths, Duo Maxwell," she hissed under her breath. "Don't ask that unless you want to face me!"  
  
He said nothing, just held her gaze, and her eyes changed, becoming those of a predator. The silence pounded in the shadows, yet his gaze held firm. The sound of someone coughing from inside the room broke the standstill.  
  
Xiran looked down, and her face twisted for a split second.  
  
"No," Duo said softly. "On both counts. I don't want to face you, not in a fair fight, anyway, and I will not walk those paths with you. I know you didn't enjoy it, Xiran. I know it from the look in your eyes as you stand here, and when Hilde was hurt. But you, like so many of us, can hide yourself too well in what you want other people to see."  
  
"So you were testing me, Duo?" She said, without looking up.  
  
"Well I wasn't flirting, you know. But I am not the only one who has questions, I was merely the first moron to ask. Apparently I'm not very good at it."  
  
"No. You're not."  
  
"I didn't think so."  
  
"Duo. If you have actual questions," she looked up at him with a flash of annoyance in her eyes, "please just ask. Don't do that again. I may be forced to chop off your precious braid."  
  
"Oh so now you're threatening the braid..."  
  
"Don't get off topic."  
  
"Right. No beating around the bush this time. What happened out there on the field, after you left the little shelter thing?"  
  
"Not much, really. There were five...and the field had some conveniently placed ditches. So eventually there were only two left. They'd thrown everything they could at me, and wasted their ammunition, so they only had one gun left. They were two of the top soldiers that arrived at the base, and they knew me, so it was harder. I went in, but they were two strong for me in my weakened state."  
  
"What? That was your weak state?"  
  
"Well I was recovering from a bullet, you know. Will you let me finish? So anyway, things could have gone badly, but Relena appeared and distracted them so I could free myself. Then she shot one, and I stabbed the last one. After that...we had a discussion about morals and what she thought of mine. It really wasn't all that pleasant. We eventually came to the conclusion that she didn't know what she was talking about but that pacifism has its values in society."  
  
Duo ran a hand over his face. "Oookay...but I have this question: what was the main basis of the argument?"  
  
"To put it as simply as possible, power. The power that some have to fight and kill, and what they do with it, and how it affects them."  
  
"Hm. I suppose it wasn't a happy conversation after all. Heh, Heero sure would get a kick out of that. You were discussing power, were you? The power that you, me, and the other pilots have. There are lots of types of power, but we seem to have the one that is the most destructive. Of course, I don't mind that at all sometimes, but...still."  
  
"What we have is a double edged blade. We have the power and the strength to fight, to strive for what we deem to be right, but we also have the power to kill. And it seems that we cannot do one without the other." She looked towards the empty hall and murmured, "I would throw it down if I could, but it...it is a part of me, and to forsake yourself is to step onto a path that leads to nowhere. Or rather, to a place where there is only yourself and your demons in the dark." She turned her blue gaze back on him. "I don't want this, not for you, not for Hilde. It's a terrible force, and it could destroy so much..."  
  
"Some wouldn't say that. Power can be sweet, sweeter than anything else out there. It can consume and leave you with nothing but ruin, but until that day even the prick of your own blood pales in contrast to the feeling it gives you. I have seen corruption, and often the bastards have been on the side I thought I was fighting for, but still, the sad truth is that they were once just people fighting for a cause that got out of hand."  
  
"I have seen it...in the faces of my comrades, in the commands of my superiors. I have seen it in those struggling to do only good and those willing to do harm. Even in myself I feel it..." She stopped short, as if she had not meant to speak her last words.  
  
Duo smiled wryly and closed his eyes for a moment. "In that, you aren't alone, Xi. And don't forget, this war rising is not your fault, no matter what you think. I felt alone once too, but that's no reason to blame yourself for everything."  
  
"What do you know about being alone? "  
  
His eyes became almost dangerous. "I know quite a bit about that, thank you."  
  
She stared at him for a few seconds longer than she should have, her eyes searching his. "I suppose you do, then. I didn't mean to sell you short, Duo. You just got me on the defensive."  
  
He shrugged. "It happens. Especially when dealing with Shinigami such as myself."  
  
Her dark eyes watched him. "But death is not the only enemy here."  
  
His expression was deceptively calm. "No. It isn't."  
  
Silence fell, and Duo almost seemed to sway on his feet. He looked very tired all of a sudden, but there was something more at work. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.  
  
"Hilde trusts you, Xi, and that's a great first step, but there are people here that are much harder to win over. You'll really have to work at kissing ass to get through to them!" He grinned. "You've already made enemies with Relena though, and that'll make things difficult, even though you saved her today. Hilde's just an exception, I guess. She can see through people, sometimes...heh, but she can't see everything."  
  
Xiran looked at him oddly. His eyes seemed unfocused and melancholy.  
  
"I know how you feel about her, Duo. I wouldn't hurt her, or you, or any of you, for the world."  
  
"That's good, 'cause you know you wouldn't want this Shinigami on your ass..." He stumbled slightly. Xiran reached out and steadied him. "Duo...why Shinigami? Why the God Of Death? You...you're one of the most amazing people I know. Why?"  
  
"Heh, no one's really asked that before...but you--don't know what happened...ah, the church..." He leaned on her suddenly, off balance. Xiran saw the pain in his violet eyes, clouded as they were.  
  
"So, she said softly. "It isn't true. The Gundam Pilots are not entirely made out of ice. Duo--how did you do it? You seem so happy. How have you kept your humanity?"  
  
Duo straightened and ran a hand through his hair. "Well isn't that a whopper of a question! To tell you the truth...I..." he went off balance and almost fell. Xiran caught his arms.  
  
"Duo! What's wrong?"  
  
"Ah, what? Oh, yeah...maybe I had a little too much of that stuff..."  
  
"What?! The Bailey's! How much did you have?"  
  
"Oh I don't know...one, two, three..." he held his fingers up in front of his face, "seven mouthfuls?"  
  
Xiran grabbed his shirt as he started to keel over backwards. "No wonder you're acting so weird," she muttered to herself.  
  
"What? No I'm not stressed! I'm fine!"  
  
"Duo, I didn't say anything."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Not knowing quite what to do, she grabbed him in a bear hug and tried to keep him upright. She was almost the same height. He murmured into her shoulder, his words slurred, "Hilde...I'm sorry..."  
  
Xiran suddenly understood. "Oh Duo. She doesn't blame you. No one does. It's not your fault." Her voice was gentle. Duo uttered a small laugh.  
  
"I think I'm tipsy."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Don't worry about it. You know, I'm here for you all the way. I just draw the line at cleaning up your vomit. You can do that yourself."  
  
"Aw, thanks..."  
  
"I know. I'm a real friend."  
  
Duo leaned close. His violet eyes glowed in the shadows. "For what you did in the field today, Xi, for Hilde...thanks."  
  
Her face shifted, surprise coming to the surface. Finally, she smiled. "You're a charming drunk, Duo. The only one I've met so far."  
  
"That's because I'm special."  
  
"Veeery special...now where's your room? I am NOT putting you in there with Hilde...Oh don't look at me that way..."  
  
They moved down the hall until Xiran found his room, or what she hoped was his room, and tucked him in, making sure he was in the fetal position in case he puked. He was muttering incomprehensibly at that point, but by the time she reached the door, he was snoring. A smile crept onto her face, and quickly faded. She whispered, "I wish you a dreamless sleep, Duo Maxwell." She closed the door.  
  
[Heero]  
  
Xiran faded back into the shadows of the hallway, half supporting Duo. He watched the dark for a moment, his blue eyes thoughtful, and then moved away. He'd seen the whole thing through a sliver of doorway in the tech room, making sure he didn't make a sound. Now he moved towards the kitchen, to investigate the offending bottle, and make sure it was put out of Duo's reach for good.  
  
He was just closing the cupboard in the unlit kitchen when he saw the glint of eyes in the shadows of the door. The eyes blinked, navy blue in colour.  
  
"So..." she said. "How long were you listening for, anyway?"  
  
He blinked. "Long enough. How did you know?"  
  
"Your scent...you left it all over that hallway."  
  
"How is he?"  
  
"He'll be fine. But being fine does not mean he won't toss his dinner. I was going to check on him later."  
  
"Ah."  
  
A somewhat uncomfortable silence settled between them. Heero wondered what thoughts were running through her head.  
  
(Flashback) *She was vicious. She didn't hate them, but she wasn't entirely cold either. I think she's withholding information from us. We can't put ourselves trustingly in her hands, Heero. We don't know what she is capable of. All we know is that she is powerful. But she revealed some things about herself to me on the field that showed a slight insight into her mind. She seems almost unstable. She has the same... cold fire you do. Be careful...Heero.*   
  
(End flashback)  
  
Relena.  
  
If Xiran was in fact a spy, or a double agent, she was hiding it very well. She could easily have killed both Hilde and Relena out there in the field. She also could have disappeared to track down whomever she wished.  
  
"...Are you wondering what the hybrid told me, Heero?"  
  
He looked up.  
  
"The thought had crossed my mind. But, contrary to popular opinion, war is not the only thing I think about."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yes, really. But that doesn't mean I don't want to know what he said. Are you going to tell me?"  
  
"I told you I would..." That night, he finished mentally. He waited. She sighed and sat down at the table.  
  
"This is becoming a bad habit, me telling you earth shattering information. I should really stop it."  
  
Heero sat down next to her. "You could, I suppose."  
  
She turned her piercing gaze on him. "But that wouldn't solve anything, now would it? Okay...so to begin today's session, I will start out with straight facts. The two hybrids were among the leaders of their squad, and were first generation. They were fairly seasoned fighters, but not top rank. They were definitely sent to kill Relena, and possibly a pilot or two, if they could. I don't know why Relena was targeted first, but it may have something to do with a change of power in the hybrid ranks. Perhaps a new commander wanted to make a first successful job. Anyway, you already know what happened once we got out in the field. The hybrid told me this as he died: Grey Claw sent him, the Kallam would hail the cold, and that the time of the final revolution of the wheel had come. He also mumbled that the Raven was flying."  
  
"Do you know what he meant?"  
  
"Well, I can make conjectures. I think that the hybrids want to begin a cold war using terrorism as their tool to destroy...the human race? I don't know. The Raven one is easy, and the wheel reference is almost total gibberish to me. As for the Grey Claw...well, I'm not sure about it. There were rumours in the facility, that there were shadow rebels fighting to overthrow Arcon, but they were only rumours. I wouldn't make any assumptions."  
  
"All right."  
  
Silence fell again, but Xiran's eyes didn't leave his face. Suddenly she smiled at him, and said softly, "Thank you, Heero."  
  
He was surprised, but he didn't show it. He stared into her eyes, his mind somehow not thinking. He was about to say, for what? when the Xiran glanced towards the kitchen door and the light flicked on in a blinding glare.  
  
Relena stood with her hand on the switch, her blue eyes intently gazing into his. Her hair was done up in a bun, making her seem somehow severe. Heero moved away from Xiran and stood.  
  
"I'll see you later tonight." He winced inwardly as the words left his lips. Xiran stood too, her gaze flickering over to Relena and back to him again. She smiled at him. "Of course. Will you call the rest of them together?" He nodded and she moved away from him to go out the door. Relena's gaze was cool, and Xiran's was dark, but somehow amused. Xiran moved to go past her and stopped.  
  
"You feeling okay, Relena?"  
  
"I'm fine, thank-you," she replied with a tight smile. Xiran moved away and melted into the shadows of the penthouse. Heero turned to Relena. She smiled wearily and said, "Quatre let me in a little while ago. I thought you might be asleep so I checked your room. Heero, why is Duo in your bed?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Duo's sleeping in your bed, or he was, a couple of minutes ago."  
  
"Oh. Uh, I don't really know." He wondered darkly if Duo was playing another one of his practical jokes. Then again, Xiran wouldn't know exactly which room was his...  
  
Relena said, "You look tired. Are you feeling well?"  
  
"I'm alright."  
  
Silence fell. Heero stared into her eyes, not sure of what to do. Relena stepped forward and one hand came up, as if she was going to put her hand on his arm. He said quietly, "I'm going to call the meeting." Her hand fell. She said, "Okay."  
  
[Duo]  
  
"I feel somewhat sick."  
  
"Well that's expected..."  
  
"Of course I wasn't THAT drunk!"  
  
"I'm sure..."  
  
"No. I'm more devious than you think!"  
  
"You didn't!"  
  
"Oh didn't I? Sure I was pretty tipsy, and about five minutes ago I was positive I was going to blow chunks, but I wasn't as drunk as I seemed, thank you."  
  
"And you did this why...?"  
  
"Because I wasn't sure if I trusted her. Duh. I don't have the faith in others you do, Hilde, and I needed some interaction to get a better picture of her."  
  
"And did she pass?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
[Relena]  
  
She gazed across at Xiran as they sat in the comfy couches in the penthouse's main room. She looked totally normal, if a little tired. There was none of the fire and hostility she had shown on the field. Strange. It seemed so long ago, not just a few hours.  
  
Lady Une sat gracefully next to her, one leg crossed over the other. She looked the same as always, neat, and calm. The gentle strength that she always seemed to radiate filled the room, making even Duo quiet.  
  
Xiran began the discussion with Lady Une's approval. She explained what she could about the Grey Claw, and what else the hybrid had told her. At the end she said, "But I couldn't have done it without Relena. She helped me escape and shot one of the hybrids. Still, it was lucky that pilots came when they did."  
  
And if they hadn't would you have made me a convenient casualty of battle? Relena thought, smiling pleasantly. Xiran smiled back, just as pleasantly. Duo made a small noise and Hilde, looking drained and pale, gave him an elbow in the side.  
  
Lady Une sat, looking thoughtful. She said, "The Kallam Republic...it is a small country that has a surprising amount of power, and a fair amount of political dissension among its common folk. Unless Genesis is in league with Kallam, I don't see much connection, except for the fact that one of their ambassadors, Haldor, was assaulted. I have been to the Republic recently, however, and I didn't see any signs that they might be planning something. There are other, larger countries that would make better allies, so I don't know why the hybrids would choose Kallam..."  
  
Wufei, sitting quietly near Trowa, said in a low voice, "Maybe they didn't mean the Kallam Republic itself. Maybe they meant the government building that was built when the Republic agreed to be in total Alliance with the Sanc, and consequentially the World Nation."  
  
Lady Une nodded, but her eyes were questioning. "Yes, Wufei, you could be right. But we can't be sure."  
  
"We can be sure that there's more of a connection there than with the Republic. That was where...some Preventer personnel were placed, but just before the terrorist attacks began, several of them were moved to watch over the Kallam Republic as a new political election was held."  
  
"Wufei, why do you know so much?" Heero's voice was even. Wufei gave him a dark glance.  
  
Lady Une sat forward. "You're right. I remember that now, I was very busy with the threats from the terrorists, and Sally and several others were sent to the Republic. The government center is a small organizations and communications point, called the Gahlfman Center. It has large communications and top secret abilities."  
  
"It could be a focal point for Genesis communications," Trowa said. "We could learn the locations and intentions of the hybrid forces."  
  
"True," Xiran murmured. "Or it could all be a ruse to make us think in that direction."  
  
Duo laughed. "But who really cares? It won't hurt if we check it out. We may just end back up where we began, but we'll have some fun at least!"  
  
Hilde leaned on his shoulder. "Ah, my pyromaniac boy, you just want to cause some destruction."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Point taken."  
  
Heero calm voice cut across the sudden talk. "We have to go in."  
  
"When?" Trowa asked. The rest were silent. Heero's eyes turned slowly to Quatre.  
  
"We'll have to investigate all the security capabilities, structural layouts and general functions of the place," Quatre said. "That will take some time, and we'll have to prepare. I say two days, but that's only if I don't find some information that indicates we go later."  
  
Heads nodded around the circle.  
  
"Right now though," Quatre said with a small smile, "We should really get to bed."  
  
There was a murmur of agreement. They all stood and began to leave.  
  
Relena watched Xiran. Her face was just like Heero's, motionless, a mask. She wondered if she was going to go on this first mission with the rest. Just then Xiran's eyes lifted to meet ones of cobalt blue, as she caught Heero's glance in her direction.  
  
Relena quickly moved to the door. She felt her cheeks heat up and she gritted her teeth. Suddenly she felt a light touch on her shoulder. She turned.  
  
Heero said, "Goodnight, Relena."  
  
"Thank you. The same to you." They didn't move for a long moment. Then Lady Une said politely, "Excuse me," and moved past them to go outside, to her waiting bodyguards. Relena smiled at him and left.  
  
The meeting was adjourned.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
He sat in the middle of his room, meditating. Sweat still stood out on his brow from his rigorous training exercises. The much battered punching bag was back in the `workout room' next door. He let the silence fill him, as he chased vainly after peace and sleep.  
  
Two days, he thought. More than enough time to prepare.  
  
Beside him, the light on his personal phone blinked. He ignored it easily. After all, he had been doing that for almost two months.  
  
Wufei's jaw clenched and he lay back. His dark brown eyes opened, staring at the shadows in the ceiling.  
  
[Duo]  
  
Duo got up, rearranged his twisted pajamas, and walked, or rather, staggered out into the hall. He passed the other's rooms and took a moment to look in blearily to confirm that all was well. One bed was empty, and the covers barely rumpled. Duo yawned, and moved out towards the door to the rooftop. The night was dark, with a bare sliver of moon gazing down like a cat's eye in the black. He made out a figure leaning on the wall made by the enclosure of the air vents, edged in faint starlight. I thought she'd be out here. Duo opened the door and made his way over.  
  
"Duo," Xiran said without turning, "why are you out here? I thought you treasured your Z's."  
  
He shrugged and came to stand beside her. "I could be asking you the same question."  
  
She smiled at him then, but her eyes were shadowed. "The world never sleeps. The light comes and goes to mark the passage of time, but the world never rests. The stars still burn outside our little sphere. When we look up, we see into their pasts..."  
  
Duo suppressed another yawn. "You know Xi, this discussion is way to deep for me and my mind at two thirty in the morning, so try not to be offended if I forget parts of it, okay?"  
  
She laughed softly. "That's alright." There was a pause, and from below they could hear the muted noises of the city. She looked out over the skyscrapers. "So we make a move on the government building in two days." Duo nodded, suddenly serious. "Yeah, we'll try to see what their plans are, and then we'll stop them. I hope that this is their base of operations, so we can stop the conflicts. They've certainly done their homework. The world alliances are going to backfire on us sooner or later. Relena and Lady Une are doing all they can, but hackles and suspicions are up." He looked away to the cold blue stars. "Do the hybrids really want war on their hands?" He muttered quietly. Xiran said nothing for a long time. "I don't know," she said finally. "I'm not sure if their leader is crazy enough, and I don't know if the troops will fight. All I know is this: the fortresses up there were built for war, and they can pack a lot of firepower. If they want war, they will have it."  
  
They stood and let the silence on the rooftop stretch onwards. He saw her return her gaze to the cat's eye moon.  
  
"I have to leave," she said to him quietly. "It isn't safe for me to stay here any longer. It's an unnecessary risk to your lives." Duo looked at her. She avoided his gaze.  
  
"We owe our lives to you, Xiran," he told her quietly. "The information you gave us has given us an edge, and you've proven yourself...to me, at least. We'll protect you from those chasing you. So don't worry," he said with a grin. "I've got your back."  
  
She smiled at him fondly, but her dark eyes still seemed melancholy. Duo watched her with veiled concern. "It'll be alright," he told her softly. Her eyes finally caught the light, and glittered with stars. She smiled and impulsively took his hand. "Thank -you, Duo," she said. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.  
  
"Now go to sleep, you nighthawk. We have lots of boring stuff to do tomorrow that on a general basis makes my eyes droopy, so get to bed!" She rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, just give me a minute." He moved for the door. About halfway there her voice stopped him. "Duo, do you trust me?"  
  
He paused for a moment. "Yes, as much as any of us can be trusted." He saw her watch him from her place near the wall. She was nearly obscured by the shadows. He could only see her outline in the light of the stars above and the faint glow of the streetlights below. He paused for a moment, yelled at her that her bed was lonely without her, then went inside.  
  
She watched him go.  
Her hand clenched hard into a fist. As the door closed she turned back to the darkness and the glacial blue stars. She looked up at the sliver of moon, and its pale colour reflected in her eyes. Blood dripped from her clenched palm to the floor below.  
  
* * *  
  
He looked through the window into glare of the shard of moon. The light reflected in his amber coloured eyes. Behind him, in the shadows stood another figure. It said, "You know the team didn't come back. But do you know why?"  
  
Silence, as he continued to stare into the silver spotted dark.  
  
"I suggest you find out. Contact your sources. I want to know exactly who did it." The figure moved towards the door, and stopped. "57."  
  
He turned, keeping his yellow eyes neutral.  
  
The voice was coldly even. "Don't fail me again." The door opened and closed with a mechanical hiss.  
  
He turned his gaze back to the shadowy curve of the planet before him. A communicator broke the quiet. Thirty seconds later the door opened.  
  
"Sir."  
  
Without turning, he said, "Gather strike team A-5. Tell them to be ready for departure in a quarter-hour."  
  
"Affirmative, sir." The soldier waited.  
  
His gaze probed the blackness of the planet. Where are you, my little raven? Come to me...let me tear off your wings.   
  
He said, "Your orders remain to search for the renegade. But the focus of this mission is to track down and kill the Gundam pilots." He turned, and his amber eyes flared.  
  
" Make sure you leave no trace of them on Earth."  
  
END  
  
Ah yes. This is the first time you meet this char. I love to hate him. My friend Shinigami Concubine doesn't think so (she'd prefer to have him castrated) but he's my character and I gotta love him. He's my own creation, but really, don't hold me and my mind too accountable for his weirdness. He's only my spawn.  
  
But back to this chap...well it took me almost a month! So much dialogue! Save me! But yeah, it's really long and I apologize. I'll try and restrain myself in the future. I also apologize for the minor editing...it hasn't passed through Shadowless's hands yet. Next chap is currently about one sentence, so give me time to get it up!  
  
-Kywraith 


	8. Tangled

Disclaimer: refer to chapter one. I don't want to make money off this…blah blah blah…don't sue me…blah. Ah well, a great many of you may have thought I had stopped writing or dropped off the face of the planet, but NO SUCH LUCK!! ^^ I'm back and taking up internet space with my insanity. This is another one of those less informative chapters…which means occasional explosions and violence. Ah, it's wonderful. But anyway, I will really, really try to get out the next chapter soon! And maybe try to make it a reasonable length for once…anyways, ENJOY!!  
  
CHAPTER 8: TANGLED  
  
She sat behind her computer and adjusted her glasses, hoping that by the sheer power of will she could banish the paperwork from her desk. It didn't work. She sighed and lifted a pen. She paused one last time, hoping merely to make the paper spontaneously combust. It still didn't work.  
  
Sarena squared her shoulders and was just settling down into 'secretary mode' when the revolving doors in the lobby swung about. She glanced up from her desk across the glossy tiled floor.  
  
The pen paused.  
  
'Oh my, what is this I see? Who is that coming through the door?'  
  
Work at the Gahlfman Center, supposedly one of the more high-class workplaces, was somewhat boring. Ok, it was as interesting as an empty room with white walls. But she had spent a lot of time in school to get here to this secretarial position, and she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  
  
The Center held a fair amount of secret information, but what she dealt with down here was just office listings, numbers, and appointments. There was nothing like paperwork to make you feel more like a useless drone.  
  
This one coming across the floor here, he was definitely more interesting than paperwork. In fact, screw the paperwork. He was the only person she had seen so far who made the charcoal grey security uniforms here look good. Then again, he wasn't forty and balding or creepy and silent like so many of the unfortunate souls currently employed. The new ones especially were cold and their eyes made her flesh crawl. One of them had strange honey coloured ones, almost amber.  
  
Sarena ran a hand self consciously through her short cropped hair and tried not to stare at the guy. His hair was brown and done up beneath a cap. He was halfway across the lobby and coming fast, with an easy, confident walk that could almost be called a strut. His hazel eyes had found hers, and he grinned at her.  
  
Sarena felt her legs morph into a strange new form of human gelatin. The guy was too hot for his own good.  
  
Waaay too hot. Anything that came out of her mouth from this point on would be unforgivably stupid.  
  
"Hi," he said, leaning both elbows on the edge of her desk. His smile was, for lack of a better word, bewitching. "Do you have a Logan Grey on your list?"  
  
"I don't know, do you want me to add you on?" Sarena smiled.  
  
"It depends a lot on what the requirements for the job are."  
  
"And what job would that be?"  
  
"I think you know, Miss Derson," he said, his eyes flashing to her nametag.  
  
"You can call me Sarena, Mr. Grey." She felt her cheeks getting warm and hoped it didn't show. She found his name in her book. "Here you are. The position for head of security is ready for the taking."  
  
"Thank you…Sarena." God, his smile could melt a cement block.  
  
"Hope we'll be seeing a lot of each other."  
  
"And why is that? Do you like something about me?"  
  
"I like a lot of things about you, Logan. I like the way your pants fit."  
  
"Is that so, Miss Sarena?" He laughed, his hazel eyes warm and huge. Her face was really warm now. He stood and made a little flick of his hand.  
  
"I'll be seeing you around, babe."  
  
Logan Grey turned and walked away to the elevators. Sarena watched him go, enjoying her view immensely. That stride was priceless. And that ass…The elevator opened for him on command and he stepped inside. His eyes found hers as the doors began to close, and his crooked grin made her knees once again turn to mush. As the doors closed, he winked.  
  
The lights above the elevator changed to Floor 2 and kept going up. She returned her treacherous mind to the paperwork and appointments of the day as the elevator made its ascent to the top floors. But in her mind's eye, she saw his smile, and she mentally slapped herself.  
  
This guy was trouble, with a capital T. But oh, what trouble he would be.  
  
As the elevator stopped, she realized that he almost fit the descriptions of one of the persons on the list she had been given. She went cold, and then remembered: hazel eyes.  
  
***  
  
Logan Grey walked quickly down the halls of the janitorial sector of the sixtieth floor. He had already checked in and through the security center and made introductions to the personnel. After that he'd excused himself to make a survey of his new territory, starting on the top floor. He came to a particularly deserted part of the hall and turned the corner.  
  
There was a vent covering in the ceiling gone. Someone was crawling out of it with quick, fluid movements. A tall figure dropped to the ground.  
  
In second he drew his gun and leveled his sights with the person's--no, the young man's head. He said firmly, "Don't move."  
  
The figure froze for a moment.  
  
He said, "This town ain't big enough for the two of us, hombre. You'd better give it up before I bludgeon you with spaghetti."  
  
The young man turned.  
  
"Duo, sometimes I wonder about you."  
  
Duo laughed and holstered his gun. "I'm not the one running around in a clown outfit on my days off, Trowa."  
  
Trowa ignored him. His green eyes were calm, as always, even though Duo searched them for signs of irritation. He sighed. "Have any trouble getting through?"  
  
Trowa replaced the vent and slipped on a janitor's uniform. As he zipped it up, he said, "No. The vents are relatively unguarded. Everything has been set in motion."  
  
"Alright. Get your mop and let's blow this pop-stand."  
  
Trowa fixed him with a blank look. Duo grinned impishly. Trowa opened the janitor's closet and retrieved a broom. His eyes flashed over Duo's identification.  
  
"Logan Grey?" Trowa said in his monotone voice that somehow managed to convey amusement.  
  
"Yeah, don't you love those hacks at the Preventers? I ask them to give me an identity, and they give me one. I am proudly bearing the names of two X- men right now, thank you very much. Ah, I really do appreciate those fungus- like computer nerds in their basement…"  
  
"I'll be sure to tell them that, Duo."  
  
"Hey that's probably not such a good idea…I might be Mr. Butt-munch next time around."  
  
"Oh I don't know, they might forgive you in a year or two."  
  
"Trowa!"  
  
"I'll be seeing you around, Mr. Grey."  
  
"Hey wait! Can't we take a rain-check on that little bit of information?"  
  
"It depends."  
  
"On what?"  
  
"How much you'll help me at the circus."  
  
"What!"  
  
"Take it or leave it."  
  
"Oh fine! But I'll get you one day, Trowa. Some day when you're not expecting it, I'll get you."  
  
"Sure. Me and my broom are shaking."  
  
"Have you been hanging out with Wufei again?"  
  
Trowa uttered a small chuckle. They moved away into the framework of the sixtieth floor.  
  
About five minutes later, the top floors blacked out and smoke began to fill the air in a thick cloud.  
  
***  
  
The fire alarm went off. Sarena jumped at her desk. The shrill screech filled the lobby and she covered her ears. What the hell is going on?!  
  
She sat down at her computer, hands flashing across the keys. Almost immediately, numbers and letters came up.  
  
Sixtieth floor, blackout in computer sectors, smoke, possible fire, possible security breach.  
  
Her hands didn't stop moving.  
  
First order of business: get the people out. Second: secure the area. Third: Try to put out the fire.  
  
The warning had been sent. Her hands went still. Sarena sat for a moment at her desk, totally paralyzed with fear. The alarm shrilled in her ears.  
  
She thought to herself, get to it. NOW.  
  
***  
  
Twenty minutes later, a crowd of people had formed outside of the Gahlfman Center. They were dressed in suits, skirts, and janitorial uniforms. Most of them looked distinctly frazzled, wide eyed and nervous. They were the evacuated personnel.  
  
The ones that were not looking up at the sixtieth floor with frightened looks on their faces were either in shock or didn't care. Saze and his group were some of the latter. They were some of the special personnel that Sarena thought of as creepy. They were dressed in black, stood like soldiers, and had cold, unfeeling eyes. Saze himself was tall, with dirty blond hair and strange honey coloured eyes. He watched the smoke rising from the windows of the sixtieth floor with no expression. In his ear, a hidden communicator buzzed. His face revealed nothing as he was given his orders.  
  
The rest of his group stood silently, waiting.  
  
They had been ordered out by a young man named Grey who outranked them in their current positions. Saze would not have let himself be moved so easily under normal circumstances, but his orders were to avoid a disturbance. He almost felt as if this was not the right thing to have done, but he had left several good men inside with the security force as a precaution.  
  
He turned back to his group and motioned for them to remain as they were. His eyes moved over the mob of people, standing unprotected, not knowing the implications of the smoke. Like cattle, he thought. His gaze passed over a green van with tinted windows parked down the street, over the frightened faces of his coworkers and then back to the smoke, indifferent.  
  
[Quatre]  
  
"Phase one, complete. Trowa has activated the jammers, used the canisters and successfully assumed janitor position. Duo has infiltrated as a security officer. The building has been evacuated of all personnel except for guards, security, and some special services people. The sixtieth floor is vacant and still smoking. No police have been contacted. The elevators will be stopped in about six minutes. Confirm?"  
  
There was a slight pause.  
  
Quatre glanced up from his laptop, which displayed the structural layout of the building, complete with two blinking dots. The dots were labeled 02 and 03.  
  
The open frequency crackled slightly.  
  
"Diablo, confirmed, and Bozo the Clown does too. Ready to begin Phase two, Mr. Fantastic Four?"  
  
"Waiting for further response, 02." Quatre smiled.  
  
"Alrighty."  
  
There was another pause.  
  
"01, confirmed."  
  
"05, confirmed."  
  
"R-10, confirmed."  
  
Quatre's hands moved over the keys of his computer. He spoke into his headset.  
  
"Everyone has been confirmed. We are in position. We will change frequencies in twenty minutes. Begin Phase Two. And be careful, guys."  
  
[Relena]  
  
She stared into the night. She glanced over to where Hilde lay, dozing. She was looking better but she was still so pale. A little smile curved Relena's lips. Hilde herself would likely comment that in some cultures it was more attractive to be pale, so she was saving money on cosmetics.  
  
The sky was overcast tonight. No stars, no moon, just a pressing grey blue. Relena thought of the paperwork she was avoiding by being here at Onyx Five, but that was easily shoved aside as her eyes traveled to the IV. The silence was broken only by the gentle sound of Hilde's breathing.  
  
Relena's eyes moved to the window again, looking out over the wan yellow lights of the city. It seemed shrouded in shadow. Like so many things.  
  
She sighed and stretched her legs. It's best not to think like that, she told herself. The pilots will be fine. They've done missions like this and harder before.  
  
But that thought led to more unease. 'They have never been with Xiran Ki'Era before. They have never faced genetically altered soldiers. They've never gone into a situation as blind as they are now.'  
  
The events of the morning slipped through her mind almost involuntarily. Heero had called to tell her that Duo wanted her to come and stay with Hilde, to which she agreed. Then he had said that they had decided to take Xiran with them. 'Why?' She had said. His pause had been long. 'I just thought you would like to know.'  
  
'Take care,' she had whispered.  
  
'I will.'  
  
Relena quieted her mind. They—he—will be perfectly fine. Besides, worrying won't solve anything. Relena closed her eyes and drew a steady breath, her face becoming composed. Be strong for Hilde…for yourself. Heero's face flashed into her mind again, cold, unfeeling. Relena's own countenance twisted for a split second. 'Just let go, let go, don't do it like this. He doesn't need you, don't cling to the past.' Relena's hands clenched in her lap. 'Useless, unable to help, a foolish girl who meddled where she shouldn't have. Let the memories go. Let him go.'  
  
Her eyes closed. His face was still there, but this time, his eyes were weary, lost, like they had been the last day of Mariemaia's war, when he had collapsed into her arms. Oh Heero, there is so much in your eyes.  
  
She looked down at her hands in her lap and slowly uncurled them. She drew another steadying breath and her gaze traveled to the bed.  
  
Hilde's eyes were open. Their gazes met.  
  
Relena forced a reassuring smile for her friend. Hilde's eyes were dark and questioning. She said, "Are you all right?"  
  
Relena smiled.  
  
She thought, it is like we're at war again. We are the widows, waiting for their loved ones to come home. She took Hilde's hand, and Hilde squeezed it.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
The clock on the wall read 7:43.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
He wanted to get in and out of here as quickly as possible. Enemy territory was not a good place to loiter, even if you did outclass them. Wufei sat behind the wheel of the truck and maneuvered towards the Gahlfman Center, thinking with deep misgiving about the disguise he was wearing. Ignoring the bland beige colour of the uniform, there wasn't much physical change. He had pointedly refused to become a bleach blond Chinese, but he couldn't get away from the other aspects. He glanced at himself in the rearview and shuddered. Blue eyes stared back at him. The wig on his head was a black mop with reddish highlights. I look like a side show freak, he thought in disgust. They're bakas, one and all. But then again…he glanced at the backseat and a satisfied smiled curved his lips.  
  
Sure makes this a mission to remember.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
They sliced quickly and efficiently through the crowd, the frazzled business personnel easily letting them through. Heads barely turned to look as they passed by. Xiran was glad for the cover of the crowd, and her eyes scanned the backs of heads as she moved with the other two. Almost to the doors now, she let her gaze pass over the peripheral edge of the crowd—stop.  
  
Her step didn't falter. Her eyes focused on the back of his head as she passed other people. 'Saze. It's Saze. Shit, why did it have to be Saze?'  
  
His back was turned to her and she was glad of it. Even with her disguise and her concealed scent, he would surely spot her. And then…he would summon the rest. A massacre might ensue on this peaceful suburban street. She moved so that she walked in stride with Heero. His grey eyes flicked over to hers. For a split second she remembered how surprised she had been when he first put the contacts in…how much the dark grey made him seem so utterly remote. She must have been staring at him. He'd finally cracked the briefest of smiles and asked, do I look that bad?  
  
Xiran blinked the present back into focus. She made a slight movement with her head towards Saze's turned back. Heero's eyes moved.  
  
Saze's dirty blond head turned. He began to look towards them, his honey coloured eyes coming to rest on hers, surely in recognition. She felt his gaze. She remembered his voice: 'why fight like this? Must you challenge everything I say. I'm only trying to help you. I don't want to make this harder. It's only a mobile suit.' Amber eyes…no, ones like honey. Those eyes that looked straight into hers and…didn't change. Xiran let her eyes slide from him normally.  
  
They passed into the shadow of the building a few seconds later and no one took notice of the blue-eyed Chinese, the black haired boy, and the blond- haired girl dressed in beige uniforms.  
  
[Saze]  
  
"Mechanics."  
  
Saze spoke the word aloud as he heard it from his headset. He watched them move into the building. The secretary with brown eyes, Sarena, was talking to them. He supposed she was telling them where the problem was located. The young man named Grey was there too, with several officers. He motioned them to watch the entrance and then moved away to the elevators with the mechanics. Saze remembered the girl with the honey coloured hair. She had green eyes…eyes that held you in thrall but revealed nothing. Saze touched his communicator.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
The braided baka was actually doing a reasonable job of keeping the situation under control. The entrances were sealed, the sixtieth floor was cleared, and the security personnel were making routine sweeps. They would be on the lookout for anything suspicious, but the pilots weren't about to be leaving anything behind. Wufei had to admit it was well done.  
  
The elevator hummed its way up to the top floor. The four of them were silent, faces composed, eyes not meeting. Wufei thought, well this really isn't the situation I pictured myself in when I agreed to this mission. He still got a kick out of the onna's hair. Blond was not her colour of choice. He firmly kept his mind away from another train of thought that always seemed to follow Xiran. Well, at least she didn't have blue eyes anymore.  
  
The elevator stopped and opened. Trowa stood there with a backpack for each of them. Duo grinned, shook his braid out of his hat and said, "Let's do it."  
  
'Shut up Maxwell.' Wufei thought irritably. 'Stop being so infernally happy!' He sighed and stepped out of the elevator. The corridors were shadowy and lit by emergency lights. Quatre had control over the electronics on this floor. No security cameras. He discarded the hideous wig with relief.  
  
He glanced over to the new member of the party. Xiran's green eyes had a feral look to them that Wufei hadn't seen before. She glanced his way as if she had felt his eyes on her. A faint half-smile lifted her mouth and faded.  
  
Wufei thought, this is a test you must pass, Xiran Ki'Era. It's time to play at full strength. I won't hold back…and neither will you. The question of your motives will be answered today.  
  
Wufei lifted a gun out of one of the packs, and his mind whispered suddenly, But at what cost?  
  
[Trowa]  
  
Quatre's voice was in his ear. Its sound was oddly comforting. Trowa knew they were in good hands with Quatre commanding them from his safe position in the van. The frequency shifted with a bit of static and his voice came over the airwaves.  
  
"Okay guys—sorry, R-10. This mission has got to be quick. Everyone, fan out and move to your stations. Search the data files for anything that might be interesting. When or if you find something, contact me and we'll pull out to office room 6218. You know what to do if something happens."  
  
"Right Quatre, we've got you," Heero said. His slate grey eyes flashed over all of them. They moved out.  
  
Trowa found himself in an office that reminded him of Lady Une's. It had a great view, and an expensive mahogany desk, outfitted with a top notch computer. Trowa locked the door and began riffling through the files in the cabinet. Finding nothing there, he proceeded to tear the room apart. Several minutes later, he was at the computer, the light reflecting in his green eyes. Files upon files of information, but nothing of use. Trowa sat back and sighed. His eyes moved up to the ceiling and along the paneling. His eyes traveled along an apparent fault in the paneling until they reached the wall. But it didn't stop there. Trowa sat up with a jerk. A secret door. Should have thought of that one.  
  
He quickly found the switch, a knob in the floor, and the door slid open. In the darkness beyond was the glint of computer screens and electronics. One of Trowa's rare smiles crossed his face. "Now we're in business," he whispered.  
  
"Quatre."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I have what we need."  
  
"So fast?"  
  
Trowa smiled again.  
  
"Yes. It was in a secret room. I've downloaded it to a chip and straightened my mess. Phase Two is complete."  
  
"Alright. Initiating Phase Three."  
  
***  
  
He moved down the shadowed halls of floor level sixty. His pale eyes almost seemed to glow in the semi-dark. The ones that were on the floor now had left their scents on the very air, and it was this intangible guide that he followed. There was one scent that bothered him, though. He bent and let his eyes half close. It was a scent that was too obvious, too patented to be real. But beneath it he could almost…  
  
A sound in the hall. His eyes snapped open. He skittered on silent feet to another room, his eyes watching the grey eyed man far down the hall. His hand touched the gun at his hip. It wasn't very far from his communicator. He flicked it on.  
  
"Saze, be on your guard. Contact the superior. We may have pilots on our hands."  
  
[Heero]  
  
Room 6218. A storage room with a penthouse view. Ah, luxury for the rich.  
  
Well, he was happy with what he had. Which at this point really wasn't very much, but he was ready to build on it. Heero closed the carabeener on his harness with a click and twisted it tight. He was going to go down first.  
  
Across the room, Duo was gathering up the thick climbing ropes to slide them through the anchors located at the window. Those things, with their yards of coil, had been stored in a closet in the very room, put there by a trusted Preventer lackey. Duo tossed a glance Heero's way and winced. Heero raised an eyebrow. Duo only shook his head.  
  
"That sure as hell looks mighty uncomfortable, buddy." He shuddered. "I HATE these things!"  
  
Heero glanced down. He glanced back up.  
  
"You do know that this strap crosses here, and then is pulled back through here, right?"  
  
Duo glowered at him, and then his expression changed to one of smugness.  
  
"Well maybe you don't have problems in that department. They only called you the Perfect 'Soldier' right?"  
  
He grinned.  
  
Heero's grey eyes went from shocked to annoyed very quickly. "Duo—"  
  
A small muffled laugh from across the room. Xiran, evidently the third to arrive, had her hand over her mouth. Her cheeks slowly reddened as two pairs of eyes turned to her. "Uh, what? I must have come in at a weird part in that conversation…"  
  
"Yeah, see, we were discussing these here climbing harnesses. You see how they come across here at crotch level? Yes, well they create an interesting sort of pinch there that can raise your voice an octave or two and Heero, well he doesn't—"  
  
"Duo, I will hurt you."  
  
"What? Do you have anything to hide, Heero? I thin—"  
  
"Stop! I don't think I want to know any more!" Xiran protested.  
  
"Suuure you do—gack!"  
  
Duo was reeled in by his hair by an extremely irritated Wufei. He gave him a hard look and said, "You know Maxwell, people always overcompensate for something they don't have."  
  
At this point, while surprise slowly spread itself over Duo's face, Trowa entered. Duo began protesting Wufei's statement rather loudly. Trowa held up the chip. Wufei yanked Duo's hair.  
  
"Shut up, you overcaffinated freak."  
  
"Ouuch, a low blow from the Wu-man!"  
  
"I could go lower, but I don't want to undermine my dignity."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
Heero gave them both glares with his steel eyes and they shut up.  
  
Trowa nodded in Heero's direction. He said, "Alright now we're in the next phase, because I've got the chip. Rappelling out is our safest route at the moment. Here, take the gloves." He took leather gloves from his pack and tossed a pair to them all. "Quatre's disabled the elevators and blocked the electronic doors throughout the building. He's going to set off a small alarm on the thirtieth floor as a distraction when we're ready."  
  
Heero glanced over to Xiran. Her face had the same motionless, impassive look as when she had killed the soldiers. Her green eyes made her seem that much more feline, and strangely savage. As he watched, her hands moved over her gun, checking it. His eyes moved again to her face, seeing nothing. He remembered Relena eyes as she said, I would rather have my hands soaked in the blood of Oz!  
  
He shook himself.  
  
He thought, everything is going according to plan. There's nothing to worry about. Xiran looked up at him and her bright eyes seemed to stare straight through him. Her face softened slightly. She said, "Nothing to worry about." But then her face resumed its hard look.  
  
"Yet."  
  
***  
  
He stopped dead in the hall, his pale eyes open wide. The scent had come strong for a second, had filled his mind with all sorts of information, and then passed. He bent and touched a palm to the floor, his other going to his gun.  
  
"I know that scent…"  
  
[Duo]  
  
He was glad he was not afraid of heights. Sure, he was afraid of falling but he was sure glad at this moment that he was not afraid of heights. He climbed out onto the wide, rectangular window of the storage office. Balancing himself securely, he started clipping the carabeeners into the climbing anchors he had secured to the top of the cement window. Their position would stop the ropes from grating against the windowsill. For a moment he paused and clung there, feeling the light wind ruffle his hair. He heard the evening hum of the city behind him, and thought of Hilde.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
'Patience, patience. Patience is a virtue. Remember that.' She watched as Heero slid his rope through his carabeenrs and made final checks on his harness, smiling to herself. The harness supported the waist and looped around the tops of the legs, and was secured in front, at near crotch level. It really did look rather…uncomfortable. She muttered to herself, "Sometimes I truly do love being female."  
  
Xiran watched Duo climb out the window and stand on the sill, his hands working on the anchors above his head.  
  
She went and took the stance near the massive file cabinet they were using as a base anchor. It was metal and six feet tall, ten feet wide. The thing was practically the size of a Hummer. She herself was going to be the human anchor if anything went wrong. She had a specially knotted rope attached to the back of her harness that she would clip to the base anchor if anything happened. Assuming someone was falling, and were already attached to their rope, she would clip herself to the base, take the carabeener at the front of her harness and clip it to their rope and then do her damnedest to stop their fall. She would be the last person to rappel out if nothing happened. She watched as Trowa and Wufei gathered equipment and began to suit up. They were so at ease with what they were doing. It reminded her that even they, who seemed so kind and funny, were trained soldiers. Her eyes moved unbidden to Heero.  
  
  
  
A sound.  
  
Her head turned sharply in the direction of the hall. Her senses sharpened like knives.  
  
Images and possibilities snapped through her head. A sniper or silencer?  
  
Paranoia?  
  
She listened again. Silence except for Wufei and Trowa suiting up.  
  
*Your senses are your weapons. Use them, and use them well. Be true to your nature and do not doubt them.  
  
There's nothing, there, sir.  
  
Is that what your mind says, or is that what you want to believe?  
  
It's what my mind says, Saze.  
  
If you let your mind lie, your actions mean nothing.*  
  
No. There was nothing there. Let those demons lie dead. Xiran began to move again.  
  
Then all at once there were pale eyes in the shadows that widened in recognition, a flash of grey. They were eyes she knew.  
  
She screamed, "34!" At her back, she heard the pilots turn. Too slow!  
  
The pale eyes streaked forward and his gun came up. Xiran's finger closed on the trigger of her weapon.  
  
Gunfire shattered the air.  
  
The pilots threw themselves to the side, but that wasn't where he was aiming. The one that was the most vulnerable was— Xiran didn't even have time to cry out.  
  
The bullets slammed into the grey of Duo's uniform. Four impacts in the chest.  
  
Xiran barely had time to register the horror before the force threw him out into space.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Fuck the bastard! Wufei was up and running under the cover of Xiran's fire in seconds. He felt nothing, nothing, didn't let anything register. Nothing would register, except for the fact that he was going after the hybrid.  
  
The seconds seemed to slow down. Wufei suddenly saw the situation clearly, impassively, saw Trowa rolling to get up, his green eyes as blank as ever, saw Xiran on the ground firing, her face in a state of such intensity it was frightening, saw Heero, his flat grey eyes shocked and filling with something, and saw finally the empty open window. 'Stupid baka! You always said you were the god of death!'  
  
Wufei's gaze turned to Xiran's and their eyes locked for a long millisecond. Then Wufei raced down the hall after the retreating hybrid.  
  
[Duo]  
  
He was over and falling before he could cry out. Head first towards the pavement sixty stories below. The wind screamed past him. The grey streets below rushed up to meet him. He thought placidly, I'm dead… I'm dead. No, I'm a splatter on the sidewalk. Well I hope they have a damn hard time scraping me off!  
  
[Heero]  
  
A split second after Duo went over Heero was ready. His mind had moved with the speed and precision of a computer, calculating, assessing. Now he was ready.  
  
Straight into Xiran's flaring eyes he looked. Grey on green, blue on blue. Understanding snapped into them in an instant. She cried, "GO!" and grabbed his rope as he jumped out the window.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Feet pounding the floor. He ran like a wolf, swift, silent, deadly. The hybrid was a corner ahead of him and somehow managing to pull away. Well if he thought he was getting away from Chang Wufei on this night, he was sadly mistaken.  
  
He rounded the corner on full speed, seeing the hybrid down the hall trying to get into a room. Bad idea, Wufei thought. He opened fire. The hybrid jerked around and returned fire while trying to run. One hand went down to something at his waist. Communication device?  
  
The hybrid screamed something into it.  
  
1 'You won't get a chance to use it a second time!'  
  
Wufei leaped into the air and rebounded off the wall, his aim as unwavering as the look in his eyes. The hybrid jerked with the bullets, pale eyes widening. He still managed to stagger to the elevator doors. He collapsed against the doors, blood streaking the metal surface. Wufei stood over him, breathing hard. He kicked the gun away. He said coldly, "Who did you contact?"  
  
The hybrid numbered 34 looked up at him, said, "The time has come for the end to come to the beginning," and clenched his hand around something on his wrist. His eyes rolled back in his head and he died.  
  
[Duo]  
  
This is going to be extremely unpleasant.  
  
His chest was just started to register the pain of the impacts. He couldn't breathe. 'Why can't I breathe? Ah well it doesn't matter, I'll be dead in a minute anyway.'  
  
He got ready to close his eyes.  
  
There was a sudden jerk on his foot. He looked up into Heero's grey eyes, coldly intense, his hair whipping about his face. Heero said, "Hold on! We're getting out of here!"  
  
[Xiran]  
  
The line coiled rapidly out the window. Second by second, meter by meter. Xiran, now anchored to the cabinet, braced herself for the friction. 'Where the hell was Wufei?'  
  
Trowa at the window, yelled, "He's got him! They're in position!"  
  
"Wufei!" Xiran called desperately. She closed her hands on the strand of fire sliding through her palm. Wufei entered the room and lunged for the rope. Trowa appeared behind him and as one, they tried to slow the freefall of their two comrades. The rope rasped through their gloved hands, the heat of the friction rising until it burned. Hold! Xiran thought desperately. Hold!  
  
The rope was agony, their hands were being shredded, but the end of the rope was coming and they had to stop it. Trowa, Wufei, and Xiran strained with all their strength as Duo and Heero plummeted towards the sidewalk.  
  
[Heero]  
  
The pavement was coming and they were going to have a very messy meeting with it. Their descent was slowing but not fast enough for comfort. Heero had himself braced for when the rope would stop, facing towards the window above with his feet towards the building. Duo was clinging behind him, his own harness clipped to the back of Heero's. Heero hoped it would be enough. Prayed that it would be enough.  
  
The stories flashed by. Level forty. Thirty.  
  
No miracle happened.  
  
Twenty five.  
  
Time did not stop.  
  
Twenty.  
  
There was a jerk on the rope.  
  
Fifteen.  
  
They slowed. The wind grew quiet.  
  
Ten.  
  
They stopped.  
  
Heero finally felt Duo's fingers digging into his shoulders, felt how much his eyes hurt, how much the harness was cutting into him. He breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Ten stories below them, the sidewalk lay in a hard, unforgiving wall. Heero closed his eyes.  
  
"Duo?"  
  
"Oh my god I swear, I never, EVER want to do that again. I think my whole life flashed in front of my eyes! And really, when I reviewed, I haven't done some cool stuff yet. I haven't seen all seven wonders of the world! I haven't been to a crazy rock concert! I haven't participated in a hamburger eating contest! I haven't got married! I haven't even got LAID—"  
  
"Duo, are you alright?"  
  
"Well, I nearly pissed my pants, and I think I may be psychologically scarred, but yeah, I think I'm okay."  
  
"How? You got shot!"  
  
"Oh that? I have a bulletproof vest on. Comes with the security uniform. Duh."  
  
Heero let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright. So now, how do we get back up?"  
  
"Uhhhh…."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
[Quatre]  
  
"What happened? He did what? Are they okay?" He had to force his voice to be steady. Trowa patiently waited for him to calm down.  
  
"They're fine. Duo had a vest on. His ribs will be sore in the morning but he'll be okay. We used a counterweight to get them back up here. There's an office desk hanging out there now."  
  
"It's securely anchored, I hope?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Are you guys ready to get out?"  
  
"Yes. We're in your hands."  
  
"Good. Because someone sounded the alarm, and the security forces are coming. There's also a chance that the hybrids in the building have moved out without my knowing. You have to move right now. All the elevators are stopped, no one can come up that way, but there are people moving up the stairs connecting each level. Be careful. I've jammed all the doors that I can. The side stairwell that runs all the way down the building should be clear. Move out into the hallway. The first door is open. Your best shot is to get down to the garage and out before security realizes exactly what's happened. The stairs lead all the way down to the underground parking lot."  
  
"Understood. Are you safe?"  
  
"A lot safer than you are. I'll be waiting."  
  
[Heero]  
  
"You baka! That took years off my life!" Xiran yelled at the braided boy as they pounded down the stairs.  
  
"Years off YOUR life? I was the one who was gonna go splat!"  
  
Heero gave him an amused look.  
  
"And Heero too! Jeez, you worry too much." He grinned at her. She smiled and rolled her eyes.  
  
"I thought we were going to find both of you in pieces on the ground, Duo."  
  
"But then we called in Heero, the human form of duct tape. When there's something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? Call Heero! Duh duh duh duh..."  
  
Heero chuckled as Duo continued to sing the Ghostbusters theme. He looked at Xiran. He said quietly, "And we had you holding the rope."  
  
She smiled a little and said nothing. He held her gaze for a long moment. Her eyes were still green and strange, but he read the relief and gratitude on her face. A tiny knowing smile touched his face and passed.  
  
They both turned their attentions to running. It was going to be a long way down.  
  
Jumping from level to level was faster but harder, so they alternated between that and running. They passed floor level 49 without breaking a sweat, but Heero knew they were really conserving energy for the long haul.  
  
He figured Duo was probably having a more difficult time, but they couldn't do anything to help him. Heero hoped he would have the stamina to keep going. They passed stairs upon stairs and doors upon doors as they spiraled down into the bowels of the building. Eventually he wasn't even concentrating on his surroundings, he was just running. Duo, obviously experiencing the same thing, was of course, bored.  
  
"Wouldn't it be cool if this was a really big waterslide and we could all slide down going weeeeeee?"  
  
"It's been said before Maxwell...Don't Do Drugs. They're bad for you."  
  
"That's right Wufei...you just keep telling yourself that."  
  
"And to think I always wondered why you had so little brain cells..."  
  
"I'd rather be born with less brain cells than be born with a POLE UP MY-"  
  
"Okay that's enough. Do I have to separate you two?"  
  
"But Heero..."  
  
Trowa said up ahead, "Three words, Duo. We. Don't. Care. Just run."  
  
Duo threw up his hands. "Hey! Be nicer to the almost splattered guy! I've had a near death experience already today!"  
  
"Such a shame. It really didn't change your outlook on life much..."  
  
"Oh, like you weren't worried, Wufei."  
  
"No."  
  
"I know you were, don't try to hide it. You're a bad liar. You'd better not have any affairs when you get married or you're toast."  
  
"Maxwell..." Wufei growled.  
  
"Okay, that's it! You, over here, you over there! We still have forty more stories to go!" This time it was Xiran, sounding amused but exasperated.  
  
Heero smiled to himself. Ah, Duo. Always a guaranteed goofball.  
  
Heero had barely had time to think when Duo had been shot. All his mind registered was that he was gone and falling. Immediately after that came the plan to save him. After that he really didn't think, he just moved with the one motivation to get to Duo in time.  
  
Heero watched Duo as he ran, his long braid bouncing. He'd never expected that he could like the loud mouthed American boy as much as he did. His thoughts, following that tangent, brought up an image that also lived in his mind. Blond hair, blue eyes. Relena. The sight of her back as she stood defiantly between him and his attacker, Duo. And then Zechs. And then when she had been kidnapped, the same action he'd felt with Duo had kicked in, and he had gone to help her. He remembered her as she stood tall and watched his Gundam's arm come straight at her, somehow knowing that he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Xiran's face flashed in his mind.  
  
Heero blinked and the grey cement of the stairway reappeared in his vision. He sighed. Still thirty more levels to go, with no distraction except his thoughts. Great. Super. Hopefully Duo would start chattering again.  
  
Level twenty seven.  
  
His legs were starting to burn uncomfortably.  
  
"Better than a Stairmaster!" Duo exclaimed suddenly.  
  
"Yeah yeah...we know," Trowa said dryly.  
  
"You know, I think if we'd started the Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the wall song on the top floor, we'd have finished it by now."  
  
"Likely."  
  
"You really don't care, do you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"Duo, more breath for running, less for talking," Wufei muttered.  
  
"Well it's certainly not my fault your brain needs no stimulation. Go meditate in your corner."  
  
"You know, if you rolled down the rest of the stairs, you might get there faster."  
  
"Sure. I'd only be so much more dead."  
  
"Like I said, what a shame."  
  
"Would you both stop that?" Xiran said, with a surprising amount of irritation in her voice. Duo gave her a surprised look. Heero glanced at her. Her eyes had that closed look again. She was looking at the nearest elevator door. "Quatre, how are we doing? We're nearing the 19th floor now."  
  
Quatre's voice came into all their ears. "The bulk of security is going in the opposite direction you are, up the main stairs to the sixtieth floor. But there are some people who are searching the other floors. The building is in basic lockdown."  
  
"Quatre," Xiran broke in, "Where is the group of security personnel in black who were outside the front doors?"  
  
"They split into two and one group went back inside."  
  
Heero was watching her eyes.  
  
"Hybrid soldiers?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Duo's violet eyes were intently fixed on Xiran. He said, "Shit. I sure as hell hope you didn't hear something in those shafts, Xi." Heero silently agreed.  
  
They continued to the tenth floor.  
  
By this time, even Heero was sweating. Duo's face was a little paler than it should have been, and the others were all looking a little strained. The pounding of the stairs now seemed like a strange and monotonous chorus of drums.  
  
"So...close...yet so far," Duo said, his face pinched.  
  
"So close..." Xiran echoed.  
  
"Come on guys, you can do it! Only six floors to go now."  
  
"Do us a favour, Quatre," Trowa said as calmly as ever, "and don't be so positive."  
  
Quatre's gentle laugh seemed to reverberate in Heero's brain.  
  
They rounded the curve on the fifth floor and Xiran suddenly fell back. Heero slowed as well.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Her face drained of emotion, leaving her green eyes the only human part of her.  
  
They turned onto the fourth floor. Xiran's eyes were intently focused on a door up ahead. She said in a whisper, "The elevator shaft."  
  
Heero's grey eyes widened and he said quickly, "Quatre, check the surveillance in the shafts."  
  
"...there isn't any." Quatre's voice was uneasy.  
  
"Should there be?"  
  
There was a pause. "Yes."  
  
The other pilots had slowed. "There's someone in the elevator shafts?"Wufei asked.  
  
"Not sure," Heero said. Xiran's face was still blank. She said, "Saze..."  
  
They rounded the corner of floor level three.  
  
With a small sound, the silvery metal of the elevator doors on level two began to open. Trowa was the first one to see and said, "Doors!"  
  
Xiran drew her gun and said, "Hurry. Get to the garage. Now!"  
  
They only hesitated for a half second. Then they ran.  
  
Trowa, Wufei and Duo rounded the steps in front of the shaft at a dead run and kept going. Xiran dropped to her knees and fired up into the shaft as she slid past it. Heero, on her heels, leaped at the door controls.  
  
"Quatre," he yelled, "Close the door on level two! Close it!"  
  
Quatre's voice came into his ear, small and tinny compared the the sound of Xiran's gun. "Use manual override!"  
  
Heero looked at the panel.  
  
Beside him, answering fire echoed up the shaft, the sound bouncing hollowly off the walls. Xiran rolled and fired some more, the crack of the gun amplified by the shaft. "Fifteen!" She panted, her eyes never leaving the darkness of the door. "More coming." They looked at each other.  
  
Heero took one more look at the panel. Then he smashed it. The doors short circuited and began to grind shut.  
  
He drew his gun and stood next to her. He caught movement up in the shaft and fired. The skittering sounds echoing in the darkness sounded like spiders.  
  
He radioed to Quatre. "Keep the doors shut or we'll be overwhelmed."  
  
"Trying."  
  
The doors shuddered within a foot of closing and stopped. Xiran swore. Heero said, "Can you see them?"  
  
"Yes." Her eyes probed the darkness. She suddenly yanked him towards her. Muffled gunfire broke the silence and holes riddled the wall where he had stood.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
They stood for another long moment, closer than normal, eyes turned to the shadows. Heero's mind went through the possibilities of the hybrid attack. They could enter another floor above them and ambush from the stairs. They could enter beneath them. They could try to overwhelm them at the shaft. Or they could wait for them to run out of bullets. Heero looked down at the gun in his hand. There was half a magazine left. Both him and Xi had two extra. It wasn't a lot.  
  
Xiran suddenly turned to him, her face motionless. Her green eyes locked onto his. She knew what he'd been thinking. She said, "I can hold them off for now. They'll likely wait for my ammo to run out. Go, Heero."  
  
He hesitated. Her eyes were strange. Quickly he dropped his magazines at her feet and said in a low voice, "Five minutes." Her eyes softened.  
  
Sudden sounds in the shaft brought her about with gun raised. Her face resumed its cold look. Without looking at him, she said, "Go!"  
  
He went.  
  
The look she sent after him was uncertain. She turned her full attention back on the shaft, and a feral light surged in her eyes. The sounds of gunfire echoed into the night.  
  
[Duo]  
  
"Ah, the glories of having a government job," Duo sighed as he surveyed the extensive underground parking lot. Government cars, trucks, and motorcylces gleamed under the lights. He noted the guard's booth. There were also other guards standing at the entrances. The big doors leading out could close, but not quickly. He motioned to the others. They moved in under the cover of cars, while Duo stood up and strode confidently in the direction of the booth. The man there was forty and balding. He looked up with some surprise as Duo approached.  
  
Duo waved. "Heya. My name is Logan Grey, current chief of security." Duo flashed his identification. "I'll be needing some transportation to take two witnesses in for questioning." The guard nodded, his gaze passing over him."Where are these two witnesses?...and how did they get down here?" His eyes moved over the bullet holes in Duo's uniform. Suspicion changed to understanding in his watery blue eyes. Simultaneously there was movement out of the corner of Duo's eye as Heero came sprinting down the stairs.  
  
Oh great, Duo thought.  
  
[Trowa]  
  
Duo came strolling back to them flipping keys in his hand. As Heero approached, Trowa said, "How did you persuade the guard?"  
  
Duo tossed each of them a key and began to open his mouth.  
  
"He used his amazing people skills," Heero said, with a glance in the direction of the booth. Duo grinned.  
  
"Ah," Trowa said, noting the guard propped in his booth. He almost looked as if he was sleeping--if you disregarded the swelling on his forehead.  
  
"Yeah," Duo said with a shrug. "My fist has some great people skills."  
  
Wufei rolled his eyes and said, "Baka."  
  
They moved out quickly.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Two magazines left.  
  
The hybrids in the shaft had the cover of darkness, but the sound of their weapons was a big disadvantage in the small space. She was glad she couldn't see them entirely, only their flashing eyes and bare outlines in the black.  
  
The spiderlike sounds of metal and claws scraping alerted her to a large number of them moving. So they were going to try the overwheming technique, were they? Xiran jammed a spare magazine in her pants and waited.  
  
The scraping sounds became more violent, closer, and she whipped out her gun and fired at the multiple shapes clinging to the sides of the shaft. The spider sounds were punctuated with a scream. The sounds increased still, and Xiran thought, here they come...  
  
Then they moved away.  
  
Several seconds later there was no sound. No sound. Pressed to the metal of the door, she panted with her ear to the paneling. What could…  
  
It came like the flash of a camera. A snapshot of the explosive taped to the paneling. But too late. She was thrown back and across the landing as the door exploded in a thunderous roar. Stairs jammed in her back as she rolled down the stairway.  
  
2 'Goddamn stairs! Haven't you already caused me enough grief today?'  
  
The world whirled with dizzying speed. She tried to stop, but she didn't know where to turn. Pain flared in her ribs, suffocating pain. Jolts as she passed more steps, jarring her skull.  
  
3 'I really hate these stairs!'  
  
Sudden stillness. Through the pounding in her head, she realized that she was lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairwell. She couldn't tell if any bones were broken, she felt strangely numb.  
  
I can't get up, she thought dully.  
  
Her blue eyes narrowed. 'It is not going to end here at the bottom of these bloody goddamn stairs!' Her hands found the floor and slowly pushed her torso upright. She focused her eyes on the top of the landing. The idiots closed themselves in, she thought in amusement. The door was buried in chunks of cement fallen from the floor above. But they were still coming for her, and if they knew who she was, they would never stop. Xiran forced herself to get one knee up. Even that small effort made the blood pound in her temples.  
  
They're coming, get up, get up! She drew in a sharp breath through her teeth.  
  
'But where…where is he? Leaving me here would seem sloppy for the perfect soldier. He'll be coming…coming for me…  
  
Maybe.'  
  
Xiran gritted her teeth and stood. She swayed, her balance skewed, her head spinning.  
  
She refused to let herself fall. Not here, not to be found by Saze. Her vision tilted. Her hands reached out for the floor that she knew was coming at her face.  
  
Strong arms took her shoulders. Someone said her name urgently. Her eyes cleared.  
  
Eyes the colour of fall storms looked into hers. For a moment she was within an inch of panic.  
  
He said her name again, and memory and relief returned. The one holding her was Heero. She felt her strength leave her.  
  
[Heero]  
  
Her eyes snapped back to realization. He breathed a mental sigh of relief. She suddenly sagged against him, her eyes going cloudy again. He held her close, seeing with a little stab of fear the evidence of a bomb on the landing. "Xiran," he said sharply, more sharply than he'd intended. He heard her say, "Sorry...little woozy," against his chest. She lifted her eyes finally and stood a little shakily on her own. She'd be okay. But there was no time to stay here. Quatre said that the human security was zeroeing in on the bomb and the shooting, and there was no telling where the hybrids were. The rest of them might be right on the next level.  
  
They hurried to where his motorcycle, so generously donated by the government, waited.  
  
"Get on!" He said to her and straddled the motorcycle. Her arms clasped around him. He gunned the engine and tore out of there.  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Duo was really, really pressing his luck. He was waving at the security guards at the entrance as they accelerated out of the Gahlfman Center. Wufei thought with deep misgiving about the obviousness of their appearances. No, we're not specially trained soldiers trying to steal information. We're just a janitor, a security chief, and a bunch of mechanics. Sure.  
  
The exit to the garage was at the back of the building and he was glad. At least then the office desk wouldn't have the chance to conveniently fall on them. With all their luck tonight, he really wouldn't have been surprised.  
  
Through the comminicator in his ear, Quatre said, "Well I guess this is Phase Five, guys. You have successfully exited the center, and now all you have to do is make a clean getaway."  
  
The pilots turned on to the main street and sped up, aiming for a base far in the deserted countryside.  
  
Wufei said aloud, "We sure as hell aren't out of the woods yet."  
  
Quatre's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts.  
  
"Unknown group of persons in cars and on motorcycles have just moved out of an unmarked warehouse. The vehicles are also unmarked, blackmarket style. It's almost certainly the hybrids. They're moving down the main street. They're closing on—" His voice cut off with a burst of static. Wufei went cold. Next to him, Trowa's face turned white.  
  
"Quatre?"  
  
Static was the only answer.  
  
[Relena]  
  
She started from a light doze. She looked around for what had caused her to wake up, but could find nothing. Beside her, Hilde slept on, unawares. Relena turned her head to look out the window, to where the moon's light provided no solace in the unrelenting grey of the sky.  
  
The clock on the wall read 9:56.  
  
END  
  
  
  
Oi, school has been eating my brain. Sorry for the lack of updates! Eh, procrastination is another one of those personal demons I'm in the process of beating. But whatever, sorry for this chapter's somewhat mediocre content. When school eats your brain, it only leaves minimal grey matter for Gundam obsessing.  
  
This really wasn't even where I wanted to end this chapter, but I saw fit to cut it short because it was growing insanely long. Sigh, but I'm excited! Next chapter promises a food fight and some secrets unveiled! Six will make her second appearance. Are the pilots ready for what she has to say?  
  
(and oooh, I'm one chapter closer to SEIGE! *jumps for joy* I can't wait to post it! So close yet so far…) Well enough ranting for one chapter. Thanks so much to those who reviewed! Seeress, Gailstorm, ShiverDragon, Turles, and my old buddy Shadowless (you have yet to find my Shadow shrine under my bed ^^) You guys are the best! Thank you so much!!  
  
~Kywraith 


	9. Scars

DISCLAIMER: Don't sue me, I'm not making any money off this! Gundam Wing is owned by people other than me, who must be disgustingly rich by now. But anything after EW is mine! Don't steal my stuff please! I claim possession of Xiran, Six, Saze and 57. And yeah, my chapters seem to just be on a downward spiral lately…my laziness has finally caught up with me. Sorry about that…Anyway, I worked hard on this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. (And it's not as long as some other chapters! Yesss! ^^) Please give me feedback! I really need it, especially after what goes on in this chap! And thanks to all those who reviewed! It really means a lot to me. Thanks!  
  
CHAPTER NINE: FACES OF SCARS  
  
"Quatre!"  
  
Trowa's green eyes were more wide than Duo had ever seen them. The relentless static over the earphones was as meaningless and numb as his mind. His one thought was, Not Quatre…  
  
Trowa looked ready to wheel his motorcycle back around and burn rubber in the direction of Quatre's van. Heero yelled, "Wait!"  
  
Trowa barely heard. Wufei, in a move Duo wouldn't have expected of the Chinese boy, moved parallel to Trowa's bike and laid a hand on his arm. "No."  
  
Trowa's green eyes flared. Duo was sincerely glad he was not Wufei. He had never seen Trowa look that way.  
  
Wufei shook his head, his brown eyes hard. "We can't go back for him now! What he was telling us to run from is probably right on our tails. If we go back now we throw away our chance at getting out of here."  
  
Trowa's face had gone back to its normal state of blankness. He stared unflinchingly back at Wufei.  
  
Duo blurted out, "Have faith in him Trowa!"  
  
Trowa turned his eyes to him. For a moment Duo quailed, and then he glared at the green eyed boy. "You know he'd never let us down, Trowa." Their eyes locked as the streets flew by around them. Trowa nodded slowly. "I know."  
  
They heard the sound before they saw the source of it. A huge booming roar that shook the night air. Orange light flared, followed by the tinkle of broken glass. The pilots all turned to look behind them.  
  
The explosion and the thick black smoke was reflected in the glass panes of the buildings around the Gahlfman Center. They could hear the hollow roaring of fire.  
  
Duo thought numbly, That wasn't the Center itself…that was a block down the street.  
  
…That was where the van was parked.  
  
[Saze]  
  
"We are in pursuit of the pilots. It is certain that it is them. They have taken a side street away from the Center and are currently on motorcycles. Strike team A-5 is following on cars and motorcycles. The position of the rest of the men is Red 416."  
  
"And the security at Gahlfman?"  
  
"We have no confirmation of how many were killed, sir. The human security forces are moving out of the front of the building and are planning to cut the pilots off. That leaves them right in our hands."  
  
"Excellent work, 21. Or should I call you Saze?" Saze could hear the leer in his voice. He kept his own voice calm.  
  
"Call me whatever you wish, sir."  
  
His superior chuckled. "Saze, then, because that's what she always called you."  
  
Saze ignored a rush of anger. "Affermative."  
  
Outside, there was a loud boom. Someone came up and quickly reported.  
  
"Sir, a van parked down the street has been exterminated."  
  
"For what purpose?"  
  
"Unknown."  
  
"Send half of Platoon Six after the pilots as well."  
  
"Sir, Platoon Six is far below the caliber of A-5."  
  
"Are you challenging me, 21?"  
  
Saze's gold eyes flared for a moment. "No, Commander 57."  
  
"Do as you were ordered."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Keep me informed." He heard the signal die.  
  
Saze turned away from his men for a moment. The pilots were more formidable than 57 thought. Saze knew not to underestimate them. 57 was deliberately sending ten men to their deaths.  
  
Saze's face remained impassive, but his thoughts were not of a calm sort. Six, he thought suddenly, you were never like him.  
  
When he had been removed from his position of teaching the young hybrid, he had hoped Six would stop her rebellious ways. He had hoped that she would get a teacher who she could respect, because she had gradually lost her respect for him. But somehow, 57 had been assigned. 57. A male only four years older than her and an old fellow classmate. He had not thought that it was a good idea for Arcon to do this, just as he didn't think 57 should send Platoon Six.  
  
But it was not his position to question orders.  
  
[Trowa]  
  
He barely heard the explosion. He only saw it, saw the bright, destructive flame. His mind thought, Quatre. It didn't seem to compute. Quatre…Explosion. Quatre…Destruction. Quatre…Dead. No.  
  
Barely even thinking about it, he activated his communicator, ignoring the static.  
  
"Quatre!"  
  
Static.  
  
There was nothing he could do. Numbly, he focused with all his power on the road ahead.  
  
The static roared on, unnoticed, in his ear.  
  
"Tr…a…"  
  
"Trowa!"  
  
Disbelievingly, he said, "Quatre?"  
  
"I'm okay…" Another burst of static.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"…I blew up the van as a distraction. Is everyone ok?"  
  
"Yes. Where will you be in five minutes?"  
  
"I'll be at the street corner of Greenwood Avenue and Wheelan."  
  
Trowa paused. "Be careful, Quatre."  
  
Static hummed in his ear. "…Thanks, Trowa."  
  
[Heero]  
  
"They're on our tails!" Duo yelled.  
  
He turned.  
  
Down the street and coming fast were the dark cars and motorcycles of the hybrids.  
  
He shouted above the rush of wind, "Xi, will they shoot at us on a public street?"  
  
Before she could speak several bullets ricocheted off the pavement ten feet behind them. Heero accelerated.  
  
"Apparently so."  
  
"Duo, Trowa, go get Quatre! Rejoin the main road at Sandy Peaks Ave!"  
  
They nodded and peeled out. Heero smiled to himself viciously. He thought, now it's time to play.  
  
Wufei took the lead as the hybrid motorcycles advanced. They pulled off a sharp turn and zoomed down a sidestreet. The streetlights flashed by above them like a slow frequency strobe.  
  
With a screech of rubber they did a near ninety degree turn and accelerated up an alley, narrowly avoiding several dumpsters.  
  
"Lost the cars!" Xi reported behind him. Then she swore. "Shit! Go go go! They're pulling out the heavy artillery!" Heero glanced behind. His mouth went dry. The car blocked at the entrance to the alley was equipped with something that looked like a bazooka. If they hadn't pulled down this alley, some bystanders would definitely have paid the price. The hybrid motorcycles were roaring behind them and closing the distance. Xiran pulled out her gun and twisted, trying to shoot at them. She fired off several rounds but missed. She cursed again. "Can't get a good shot off that way!"  
  
Heero focused hard on the road ahead. Wufei squealed out into the main street. There was a blare of a horn as they pulled into the street. Headlights glared in Heero's vision. One way street! And they were going the wrong way!  
  
Heero quickly steered into the sidewalk. Behind him, he heard the chatter of an automatic weapon. He swerved to avoid some pedestrians, a two young women holding hands.  
  
"Don't they care about collateral damage?" He yelled to Xiran. She shook her head, her hair blowing in her face. "No. They'll hit them and they won't give a damn." She paused and said right in his ear, "They'd say, they're only human."  
  
Heero gritted his teeth and moved back into the line of traffic. The bellow of a huge Mack truck caused him to jerk the bike hard and skid onto the shoulder. The hybrids opened fire again. Xiran made a sound of irritation. She said, "Just keep your eyes on the road, Heero. I'll take care of them."  
  
He was about to say, what? When she moved and slid between the handlebars and his arms. His surprise must have shown on his face. She cracked a smile and said, "The road, Heero!"  
  
He did as he was told. She continued shifting until she was facing him, straddling the bike in the opposite direction. Then she moved until she was pressed close, and he felt her arms come up behind his back. She peered over his shoulder and gripped her gun. The sound of gunfire exploded into the night.  
  
Heero thought, Duo is going to have a field day with this…  
  
[Duo]  
  
Sandy Peaks. The main road out onto the desert hardpack. With Quatre on the back of Trowa's motorcycle, they were almost home free. If they could hold off the hybrids for another five kilometers, they would be in range of reinforcements.  
  
With Trowa and Quatre in the lead, he cut off a side street and onto Sandy Peaks. They were 50 meters up from Heero and Wufei's headlights and the glare almost obscured them from view. They were pushing the bikes pretty hard.  
  
A posse of about fifteen hybrids was hot on their tails.  
  
Duo smiled to himself. 'This chase isn't about skill…it's about how good you are at finding good transportation. And I'm gonna bet those blackmarket bikes are way better than the ones the Preventers use. I guess this means we'll have to play this Shinigami style. And the first rule of my game is: there are no rules.' Duo reached into his backpack and drew out two high powered grenades. Both had an adjustable delay. Duo grinned.  
  
He tossed one, and then the other over his shoulder, aiming very precisely. He heard the metal hit the pavement, heard them skitter.  
  
He didn't have long to wait.  
  
BOOM!  
  
Two loud explosions roared over the desert, one right after the other. The fireballs sent motorcycles and hybrids flying. When the blaze of light and smoke cleared, the hybrid group consisted of five.  
  
Duo turned back to the road in satisfaction.  
  
'Ah, I love my work.'  
  
He reduced his speed and fell back, for a moment parallel with Heero's bike. He turned to say something to his friend and stopped. Duo almost did a double take.  
  
1 What the hell?  
  
Heero's grey eyes flashed to his, his expression as controlled as ever. Duo sighed inwardly.  
  
'Trust the Hee-man not to have any reaction when there's a hot girl straddling him. I mean really, what's he gonna say when he finally gets laid? Mission, accepted?' Then Duo recognized the look in his eyes that said: I am extremely uncomfortable with this current situation.  
  
Duo grinned and motioned for Heero to move ahead to the front. Xiran shook her head. She shouted, "Hold steady!"  
  
With a sudden roar, something exploded in the air ten feet behind them. Duo's head whipped around.  
  
That was definitely a bomb.  
  
Xiran smiled wryly at him.  
  
"You are not telling me you shot that out of the air!" He yelled at her. She shrugged.  
  
He waved a hand in defeat. "Okay, stay back here but be careful!"  
  
[Wufei]  
  
The woman was picking them off like flies.  
  
She was back there in a good position to shoot, and even though Wufei disagreed with how she had gotten in that position, it seemed to be working. Although the hybrids still could get in range of her, the forward momentum of the bikes was making it hard for them to aim. But her aim was apparently still good. And so they were slowly diminishing in number. They were good fighters, but evidently not as good as the Gundam pilots.  
  
He thought, And maybe Sally too, and immediately kicked himself.  
  
[Heero]  
  
There were two left.  
  
The sound of her gun was almost common to him now. Her yell of, swerve! was just as normal. One more hybrid fell heavily to the pavement and began rolling like a tumbleweed. Heero's grey eyes noted the sharp curve ahead, the first they'd had in miles. Just as they neared it, the final report of her gun rang out. The last hybrid's motorcycle was disabled and he began to fall behind.  
  
Heero thought, We did it. We just might get out of this unscathed.  
  
That was about the time he felt the back tire explode.  
  
[Quatre]  
  
It seemed to happen too slowly. The hybrid's stray bullet found the tire and it exploded. The bike wavered as Heero lost control. They neared the inconveniently placed curve in the road.  
  
Quatre himself at this point was thinking, oh no, oh no.  
  
He saw what Heero was surely seeing at that moment: that the land on the outside of the curve of the road dropped away in a steep hill.  
  
He saw the bike fly off the road. He saw Heero and Xiran bail.  
  
As they fell towards the ground, he thought, Please, just let them be alright.  
  
[Heero]  
  
Stupid goddamn hill.  
  
He was rolling down the slope, feeling much like lettuce inside a salad spinner. He thought with surprising calm, I really hate hills.  
  
For a half second, he saw the rock ahead of him.  
  
Then he hit it.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Shit shit shit….  
  
Xiran sat up. She was bruised and battered, and her head was spinning crazily, but she was fine. The problem now was Heero. She'd seen him go off, and then lost sight of him. Abruptly she saw him lying at the bottom of the hill, about fifteen feet from her. He wasn't moving.  
  
She forced herself to get up.  
  
Xiran bent over him. He was frighteningly still. He was sprawled on his front, one arm thrown out to the side, and the other folded beneath him. Nothing broken, not at least from what she could tell.  
  
'Sure, but what about spinal damage? He could be paralyzed if you move him. Yeah, but if I don't he'll be a dead paraplegic when the rest of the hybrid team gets here!' Xiran quieted her worrying mind.  
  
"Heero," she said, one hand on his throat, checking his pulse. He didn't respond. Her mind supplied three quick curses. She bit her tongue.  
  
"Heero," she said, a bit more insistently. Okay, he's breathing, that's good. Calm down.  
  
'But he's still not RESPONDING,' her mind threw back. Xiran gritted her teeth. She quickly ran a light hand down the length of his spine. She steadied his neck and shoulders and carefully eased him onto his back.  
  
'What if he got shot, got hit with some shrapnel then got a concussion and is now having horribly vicious internal bleeding? Oh shut up! You're just making this worse!'  
  
"Heero!" She said. She bent her head over him, her cheek just above his mouth. His breath was steady, pulse normal. Something warm ran down her temple. Blood dripped on his cheek. His eyes were suddenly open.  
  
"You're bleeding," he said quietly. They didn't move for a moment. His eyes were very close to hers.  
  
"And you probably have a concussion."  
  
"I'll be fine," he murmured.  
  
His hand touched the cut on her head. His eyes seemed so flat at first, but…  
  
"Someone told me you were like a machine once," she said softly. She paused, her gaze on his face. "I can barely see that in you now…" she broke off, her eyes suddenly distant.  
  
"The road," she said.  
  
She helped him to his feet, and slung one of his arms over her shoulders. They walked back to the hill in silence. They paused and Xiran closed her eyes for a moment, wiped the blood from her face. Heero watched her with his grey eyes.  
  
"...you could have died back there."  
  
She opened her eyes. "You could have too. Why tell me this?"  
  
Silence.  
  
She sighed, but it wasn't a sound of irritation.  
  
"I suppose I could have. It's not an unfamiliar thought." She looked at him. "Death is no stranger to me, Heero, as I'm sure it's no stranger to you. Whether it's taking the lives of others or my own, I have not hesitated during my missions. Does this change your opinion of Xiran Ki'Era, Heero?" She looked up at him, her eyes dark.  
  
Heero said, "No."  
  
"Why? I have killed the innocent. Absolution is something I will never have. My purpose now is merely to stop this war from rising. I might have cared once about survival…but that died in me long ago."  
  
"Then you say it's all nothing, that you truly don't value your own life." Heero uttered a mirthless laugh. "Well you're not far off from where I was once. I suppose we're more alike than we know."  
  
"Maybe…"  
  
"But being indifferent is not the same as not being able to care."  
  
She looked up at him suddenly, her eyes unreadable. "I don't even think I know the meaning of the word."  
  
"Do you want me to die?"  
  
"What? I...no. Never. I would probably do something stupid like throw myself in front of you before I'd let you fall."  
  
"Then you care. Don't give up before the end of the race. We're in this together now."  
  
Long silence.  
  
"Allright. For the race then. To the end. I've got your back if you've got mine."  
  
"I've got it."  
  
"Then we're set…and we're both screwed because there's no way you can stay out of trouble."  
  
"Any more than you can."  
  
"Heh. Yeah. Well, Heero Yuy…let's finish this."  
  
[Duo]  
  
He saw them go off. They seemed to fly for a moment, but Duo knew, with some well founded experience, that they would quickly drop like rocks. Gravity was only your friend in certain circumstances, and this was definitely not one of them. Duo swore and wheeled his bike around. He turned to Wufei, Trowa and Quatre. "Get to the base!" he yelled, with an unaccustomed note of steel coming into his voice. His hazel eyes narrowed.  
  
"I'm going back for them."  
  
They had managed to get halfway up the hill by the time he got there.  
  
"You guys okay?"  
  
Heero nodded, and Xi waved at him. He let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Jeez! I stressed myself over nothing. I should have known that you two would put your Superpowers to good use out here."  
  
Xiran grinned at him. "What if I had X-ray vision, Duo?"  
  
"Then I'd be Captain Underwear."  
  
She laughed.  
  
They finally reached the top. Duo straddled the motorcycle and then paused.  
  
"Uh, Xi, you get on first," Duo said after a slight pause and a glance at Heero. Heero cocked an eyebrow at him as Xiran climbed on behind Duo. Duo responded with a sly grin. Xiran's arms locked around his waist, and then he felt the change of weight as Heero got on. Duo glanced back over his shoulder at the faintly embarrassed look on Heero's face.  
  
"Everybody comfortable back there?" He inquired innocently. Heero gave him a profoundly irritated look.  
  
Duo grinned at the both of them. "Aw, you know you like it."  
  
She punched him, hard. He laughed and revved the motorcycle. As he screeched away, he began singing, "If you want my body…and you think I'm sexy…come on sugar let me know…"  
  
"Just drive," Heero growled.  
  
[Relena]  
  
"And then we started playing the Penis Game. See, Xi had never played the Penis Game before. She was a Game virgin. So I just had to play it with her…ow! Was that intentional, Hilde? I think it was. I'm sorry you missed out on the Penis Game, but don't feel bad. Later we can go out on the roof and play the Vulva Game…Owch! I'm stopping, I'm stopping!"  
  
Relena smiled to herself as her blue-haired friend went about dressing the numerous scrapes and bruises on Duo's body. The look on Hilde's face when Duo came through the door with the bullet holes in his clothes was enough to make the braided pilot babble constantly since he'd got home. Hilde, tight lipped, had said almost nothing, and Relena knew that Duo was in for some verbal abuse later. Duo himself knew it too, his chatter had a desperate edge to it. He had tried to convince her he was fine earlier, but Hilde hadn't stood for that. The vest had come off, the shirt underneath too, and the already yellowing bruises on Duo's chest had been quickly scrutinized in heavy silence. It was then and only then, that he had stopped talking.  
  
Hilde had placed a hand on one of the bruises, and Duo had winced. Her eyes had held his for a long moment. The anger and worry there had caused Duo's face to become still. He'd taken her other hand and kissed the fingers in silent apology.  
  
Hilde had said softly, "Baka." And then she'd gotten the bandages.  
  
Relena looked over to where Heero sat with a bottle of antiseptic, dabbing at the scrapes obtained in the fall. She'd gotten much of the story from Duo, while he was filling the silence with his ranting. Heero was doing his task absently, his mind obviously somewhere else. Perhaps on someone else. Where was Xiran now?  
  
Relena shook that thought off, and went to him. Something was different, something had happened on the mission. She didn't know what, but his eyes were slightly strange.  
  
The other pilots had gone to their rooms quickly, and the only people up and about were Duo, Hilde, Heero and herself.  
  
He looked up as she approached, his gaze steady. Wordlessly, she took another cotton swab and began doing the hard to reach cuts.  
  
She felt his eyes on her, but didn't look up. She said quietly, "I'm glad you're safe."  
  
There was a slight pause. "Were you worried?"  
  
"A little…yes."  
  
Relena finally looked up at him. His grey eyes seemed soft.  
  
He said finally, "…Sorry." He turned his attention to his other arm.  
  
She smiled.  
  
Abruptly she felt the pressure of another gaze. Relena looked up. Curled in the big window at the far end of the room was Xiran. Her eyes were dark. Relena held her stare evenly. After a moment Xiran stood up and left.  
  
Her suspicions had not been allayed by the mission's success. Xiran could still be hiding something, waiting, biding her time. Even though the girl had shown remarkable loyalty thus far, she still had her own motivations. Relena was sure of it. She only wondered why the others didn't see it. Or maybe they did…The Gundam pilots were the most subtle and calculating people she knew. But perhaps Xiran knew that too.  
  
Relena banished the girl from her thoughts. It was no use speculating.  
  
Relena thought of the bigger picture. No new terrorist attacks had occurred since Xiran's arrival. The Preventers were still tracking down leads but basically what the pilots had found was the only fruit of their labours. And they weren't even sure what was on the chip yet.  
  
She could only hope that together they could stop this war before it could begin.  
  
Relena sighed inwardly as she placed a bandage over a larger cut. What she was worried about was that the war could be avoided…but that it was the Gundam Pilots who would pay the price. The Preventers were too politically influential to stick their noses into strange business, but the pilots were not. They never had been.  
  
Heero said quietly, "Whatever happens, don't worry."  
  
She started. Had he been reading her thoughts? His eyes revealed nothing, as usual.  
  
"It is just that…we don't know what's going on. We're playing a game, but we don't know all the rules. At least with Barton we knew what we were dealing with. I worry that you and the pilots will be alone in this fight."  
  
He was silent for a moment. "We know that we aren't alone."  
  
Relena didn't say anything, didn't trust herself to say anything. Finally she murmured, "Even with your strength, I don't know if this can be won easily." She heard the note of defeat in her voice and her gaze hardened. "But I have faith in you, Heero. I have faith in the ability of the people to hold peace. I have faith that they will fight to protect this peace."  
  
His mouth curved in the faintest smile. "Inspire them. You have the power to sway even the coldest hearts."  
  
She went still. He got up. "Stay here tonight. Several of us will be leaving on errands in the morning. We'll drop you off." She nodded numbly. He said, "The room down the hall." Then he disappeared.  
  
Relena lay back and closed her eyes. She breathed out slowly.  
  
2 'With you beside me, I find the strength to do anything…'  
  
[Duo]  
  
Hilde's eyes, usually full of laughter and amusement, were trained on his.  
  
Those blue eyes had more in their depths than Duo could understand. But one thing he did know was that she was pissed.  
  
Hilde's face was carefully blank. She said almost coldly, "Trowa told me what happened. He's very precise, you know." She fixed her intense blue gaze on him. Duo almost flinched.  
  
"Well…I…"  
  
"What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? Standing on the sill with nothing holding you in! You baka, you—" Hilde turned away for a moment, muttering vicously in German. Duo was suddenly very glad he knew nothing about the language. She turned back to him, face composed.  
  
"You said you would be careful." It wasn't an accusation, but it was close.  
  
Duo rubbed a hand over his face. "Yes. I did, and I meant to be—"  
  
"Then what the hell was that?"  
  
"That was me being a dumbass!" His felt his own anger rising. "Don't stand there and tell me that throwing yourself in front of a bullet wasn't stupid too!"  
  
"Not as stupid as that!"  
  
"I never said I was intelligent!"  
  
"I never said you were either! But I assumed you had the brains of at least a monkey and not a yam!"  
  
They glared at each other.  
  
Finally Duo sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Hilde closed her eyes. "I'm sorry too." She opened them. "I was just worried…and then I got stressed, and then I got angry because I was stressed, and so on and so forth…" She shook her head. Her face fell. "I had a feeling you would get hurt tonight. I thought it was just my normal drug induced hallucinations but…"  
  
Duo drew her into an embrace. She stiffened slightly, and then held him tight enough to make him wince. He said again, "Sorry."  
  
He felt her sigh against him. "Don't do it again, please?"  
  
"I'll try."  
  
And in the end they curled next to each other in bed, a warm tangle of limbs, finding some solace in each other's arms. But they both knew that arms were not always protection enough. They shifted closer and drifted towards sleep, closing their eyes against the dark.  
  
In the silence Duo whispered, "No matter what happens..." He faded off, and Hilde gently squeezed his hand.  
  
"I know."  
  
Duo let himself float towards the blackness of sleep. In the mists of his drowsy mind he heard his own voice whisper, Then I guess we're even…for now.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Saze.  
  
Her old hate rose up for a moment like bile in her mouth and subsided. Yes, she had hated him for a long time. For living life by the rules, for being such a perfect soldier. Saze had been the only person she knew who did not question Arcon's orders once. She had hoped that she would be free of the past now. She had wanted those days to be over.  
  
Xiran stared into the darkness of her room and imagined the eyes that must surely be watching for Onyx Five.  
  
The eyes of a powerful hybrid. The eyes of a predator.  
  
Xiran knew all too well whose eyes they were.  
  
Between the two of them was a vengeance promised but never fulfilled.  
  
Some day it would be.  
  
Eventually she drifted into a fitful sleep, into dreams of running in a shadowy maze. In them she was trying to get away from something, but she didn't know what.  
  
[Duo]  
  
The morning light was like something stabbing him repeatedly in the eyeballs. He really didn't like it. Rolling over in hopes of curling into a ball of blanket and dark, he realized too late that Hilde wasn't next to him anymore.  
  
With a muffled cry he tumbled off the bed and onto the floor. His head hit the floor with a thwack. Duo moaned and pulled the comforter over his head. He'd decided in these last few moments that it was really too much effort to get up, and that the world was out to get him today anyway. It was best not to give it any more chances.  
  
It was apparent in a few minutes, however, that he was wide awake. Whether from the light or the pleasant brain hemmorage so early in the morning, he was unable to go back to sleep.  
  
With a lot of muttering Duo got up and fumbled his way into the shower. That was nice. Warm water was always welcome, especially when Wufei wasn't around to deliberately flush the toilet. Feeling decidedly mellow, he dressed and found his way to the kitchen.  
  
Someone was clattering around in there. Duo brightened. Maybe it's Quatre, preparing all kinds of culinary delights!  
  
He stepped into the brightly lit kitchen. Xiran's dark maroon head was at eye level with the oven door.  
  
"What're you doing?"  
  
She stood and put her hands on her hips. She had on an apron with a tulip pattern. "Don't--" she said, wagging an accusatory finger at him, "--say a word." Duo, in the process of opening his mouth, closed it.  
  
He sat down at the kitchen table, grinning. "I was only going to comment that this was a new look for you."  
  
"Yeah, right. I'm sure you really weren't thinking up some moronic chauvinistic statement."  
  
"That's Wufei's job."  
  
"You seem to have a fairly good helping of pig neurons in your brain too."  
  
"In the words of the immortal Bart Simpson, eat my shorts."  
  
She laughed and returned to her vigil at the oven door.  
  
"Are you cooking?" Duo asked curiously. She gave him a wry look.  
  
"Quatre left me a recipe for scones. They're almost done."  
  
Duo stretched. "Have you ever cooked before?"  
  
"…No. Not really."  
  
"Oh." There was a long pause.  
  
The timer went ding!  
  
He watched her take them out of the oven and put them on the table, which was covered in a mess of cooking ingredients from the cupboard. He regarded the scones a little nervously.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Aren't you going to try one?"  
  
"Uh… the cook has first dibs."  
  
"I resent that."  
  
Duo laughed and put his hands behind his head. "I don't want scones anyway. Come on woman, go make me some pie!"  
  
Xiran, in the process of removing her apron, whirled around. "WHAT?"  
  
Duo just laughed, finding her expression rather amusing. He made an attempt at eating a scone, and failed miserably. That only made him laugh harder.  
  
Because he was laughing so hard, he didn't see what was coming next. Xiran smiled evilly, dumped some flour on his head and smushed it into his hair. Duo, who was gamely trying to take another bite, was so surprised he fell off his chair. Xiran started laughing and said, "How's that for some PIE?"  
  
Duo picked himself up with dignity and then grinned mischievously.  
  
"Watch it, Xi, I've got a deadly arsenal of scone rocks in front of me and I won't hesitate to use them."  
  
"No one disses my scones and gets away with it! Prepare to be annihilated, Bat-Boy!"  
  
The food began to fly. A hail of twinkies exploded on Duo's side of the room, and he fired back trails of pudding and dry cereal from the cupboards. Before he could duck for cover he was hit in the head with a twinkie and a bite sized brownie. She fell over laughing and pointed at the golden yellow pastry sticking out of Duo's ear.  
  
*SPLAT*  
  
An entire lemon meringue pie was suddenly all over her face. She sat up in surprise, wiping lemon innards out of her nose and hurling them at Duo, who was practically dying from laughter on the other side of the room. Xiran took one look at his face, covered in gobbets of pie and twinkie, and had a sudden vision of Mr. Potato Head. She started laughing hysterically.  
  
They were both rolling around on the floor in the foot deep goo, holding their sides and laughing so hard tears were in their eyes. Duo regained his breath first, gasping, and immediately saw Xiran sitting in a puddle of melting whipped cream, still laughing her head off. The can of cream was now away from the carnage and under a chair. He grinned, revenge in his eyes. He sprayed her surprised face with cream, then said, "You're the marshmallow man!!" He collapsed back into hysterics.  
  
She let out a cry of outrage and tackled him into a pile of detonated twinkies and frosted flakes.  
  
"Ahhh!"  
  
"I'll show YOU marshmallow!"  
  
They wrestled in the goo, almost too weak to do anything except flail madly about. Finally they were so exhausted they collapsed on top of each other, giggling like idiots. Duo lay back in a disgusting combination of pudding, raisins and BisQuik, trying to catch his breath. Xiran did the same, her laughter slowly dying.  
  
Ignoring the sludge on her smiling face, Duo thought to himself, I've never heard her laugh like that before. Hell, I've never seen her look so happy before. This is the first time she's really let loose.  
  
He suddenly spotted a forgotten spatula and picked it up. He balanced a lumpy chunk of twinkie on it and launched it at the ceiling. It hit with a small squish, and doggedly clung there, which really wasn't all that amusing, but by this time, anything was funny. Xiran broke out into a fit of laughter so hard her legs looked like they were having involuntary spasms. Duo of course was set off again by the sight of her legs jiggling about and doing a Riverdance all their own. Both of them wriggled about rather foolishly on the floor for several minutes. Xiran gasped, "I'm going to burst!"  
  
"My mouth hurts!" Duo choked.  
  
"Mine too…but—Ahhaha!"  
  
Finally they quieted themselves and began to consider the battle-scarred condition of the kitchen. Duo actually thought seriously about cleaning up.  
  
That was until the next gob of food hit the ceiling fan.  
  
***  
  
"Do you think it'll hold one more?"  
  
"Maybe. You won't know until you try."  
  
"Sure. And it'll bring the whole thing down on top of us!"  
  
"Good point."  
  
There was a pause, then a small squck noise.  
  
"Good shot."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"My turn."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Gop.  
  
"That one was iffy."  
  
"Was not."  
  
"You aimed it right at the middle and there's already quite a large amount of pudding there. Even though its mass is small, the accumulated net weight could bring it crashing down on our heads!"  
  
"SO?"  
  
"It wobbled!"  
  
"Your point?"  
  
"Just give me the spatula!"  
  
***  
  
(some time later)  
  
"Wow."  
  
"It really was an impressive shot, wasn't it?"  
  
"Oh shut up. I'm wowing at the SIZE of it."  
  
"I know you're just jealous."  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"I am NOT!"  
  
"Oh you know you are. You just wish you were cool enough to be me."  
  
"Give me the damn spatula!"  
  
There was a distinct sound of a whack.  
  
"Ow! Hey!"  
  
"Now that was a good shot."  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Yah, probably not from your perspective." She grinned. "Oh gee."  
  
"Grrrr!"  
  
Xiran laughed and Duo pushed a large amount of chocolate pudding into her mouth. She gagged. Duo threw his head back and started making a muffled laughing noise very close to the sound of a pig oinking.  
  
"That was uncalled for!" She sputtered through her mouthful of brown.  
  
Duo struggled to compose himself, and smiled. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" He said sweetly.  
  
"MMMPH!"  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"No you shut up!"  
  
"Make me!"  
  
They wrestled. Around the table, around the garbage, around the chairs, around anything that was remotely solid. They slid and squished all around the kitchen until they were interrupted by someone opening the door.  
  
Heero paused in shock as he surveyed the battle-scarred kitchen. Then a flicker of a smile crossed his face. Duo and Xiran paused in the process of trying to shove each other's head into a pile of spray cheese, just in time to see Heero casually reach up and flip the switch to the fan.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
The collection of Oreo, cheese, twinkie, brownie, scone, flour and cereal dislodged itself from the ceiling and plummeted towards their unprotected heads.  
  
"AAAHH--" There was the sound of a hefty splat. In an instant, Duo and Xiran were buried in a mountain of disgusting gooiness. All those foods that weren't supposed to be mixed together were having a total social gathering on top of their heads.  
  
"Ohh…gross, man!" Duo said.  
  
Heero chuckled at the surprised looks on their faces and turned to walk away.  
  
Duo turned and looked at Xiran.  
  
Xiran turned and looked at Duo.  
  
They looked at the food on the floor.  
  
Grins slowly spread across their faces. With a glance at the back of Heero's head they gathered up as much as they could carry, and took off after him.  
  
[Heero]  
  
"You fought long and hard, Heero. I commend you on a valiant effort. But your defeat was inevitable. We rule!" Duo and Xiran exchanged a wet high five.  
  
Heero wiped cream out of his ear. "What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." He gave Duo an utterly blank stare. Duo only laughed and slapped him on the back.  
  
"That won't work with me. I KNOW you."  
  
"..."  
  
"He's just being a sore loser," Xiran teased. Heero rolled his eyes. He was covered in a disgusting mixture of food. He'd discovered about a minute ago that he smelled funny, but that was expected, considering he'd been wrestled to the ground and splatted multiple times with half mushed food. Duo and Xiran were sitting next to him, and they were in a worse state than he was. But looking at the foolishly smiling faces of his two comrades, he couldn't think of any place he'd rather be.  
  
[Quatre]  
  
He sure was glad they'd stocked up in food earlier, or else they wouldn't have anything to eat for lunch. Even now, the dredges were all they could scrape together. And the kitchen was a disaster. It was still a mystery how it could have been destroyed so fast, but with Duo, anything was possible. Quatre smiled to himself.  
  
Duo had been scolded by Hilde and sent to the shower to become human again. She had firmly resisted his attempts to give her a gooey hug.  
  
Xiran had been sent to the local mainstreet with a large shopping list. Heero had gone with her, at Duo's urgings, so that she 'wouldn't get in any more trouble.'  
  
Quatre, Trowa and Hilde were now cleaning up the remains of the kitchen. They didn't trust Duo not to throw anything left so invitingly on the ground.  
  
Trowa was standing on a chair scraping food off the fan and the ceiling. Quatre looked up at him just as a gob of twinkie fell on his head. Trowa glanced down at him with a flicker of a smile. "Sorry."  
  
Wiping the goo out of his hair, Quatre smiled and said, "I'd say 'It's okay' but I'm still not entirely sure it was an accident." Trowa gave him an enigmatic smile again and went back to his work.  
  
Quatre wiped under the table and came up behind Trowa. He was going to say something, but then realized that Trowa's behind was right in front of his face. All immediate thought vanished. Quatre quickly turned away, hoping to God that Trowa hadn't seen the blush in his cheeks.  
  
But when he looked again at the tall boy, that enigmatic smile was back on his face.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
"We'd like three pounds of fresh steak and some asiago, please."  
  
The man behind the counter had thick black hair and clear green eyes. He grinned at them good naturedly, his face somehow reminding her of Duo. He said, "Ach well, I havena any of the American Asiago left now, but I do have some fresh Italian…even tha it's pricier." He had a Scottish accent, and Xiran smiled at him, liking him immediately.  
  
"That'll do."  
  
He nodded and went about his tasks. His eyes lingered slightly in Heero's direction and then passed.  
  
Xiran felt her suspicions rise. Was he really as normal as he seemed?  
  
She watched him through the glass of the deli counter, trying to be subtle. He glanced several more times Heero's way while he sliced the meat. Then he left to package their stuff. When he came back he grinned at her impishly, his green eyes knowing, and said, "Ach lassie, dinna fash now. I dinna have the intention of seducing your friend there, I assure ye, even though it's tempting."  
  
Beside her, Xiran felt Heero stiffen slightly. She barely suppressed a laugh.  
  
"Well, it's okay to look…but any more than that and I'd have to fight you for him," she teased.  
  
He smiled back, but his eyes had a hint of seriousness. "Aye, I bet ye would."  
  
She looked at Heero. A faint flush had risen in his cheeks. She smiled and took their bags.  
  
"Thanks so much, Mr…?" She didn't know his name.  
  
"James," He said simply. He waved as they left, and gave Heero a good -natured wink.  
  
"All the best to ye!"  
  
Xiran laughed out loud as they continued down the main street. "You should have seen your face…"  
  
Heero made a noncommittal noise.  
  
"Well, be like that if you want, but I liked him. He was funny. And that accent was new to me."  
  
Heero made another noncommittal sound.  
  
"Oh fine, I'm sorry, it really wasn't THAT funny…"  
  
They continued down into the marketplace and into the crowd. In the stalls, booths, and carts, they would find everything they needed.  
  
[Heero]  
  
The smells of the marketplace assailed him. The rotten, salty smell of fish, the sweet perfume of flowers, the fresh earthy smell of fruit and vegetables. There were others mixed in there as well, but he couldn't put his finger on them. And he didn't really care anyway.  
  
The sun was bright today, and he was aware of how he had missed it when he was in space. It was always good to return to the earth. And now that he wasn't under enemy fire, he could actually enjoy it.  
  
Xiran walked next to him, her hair shining in the sun. Her keen eyes were darting about and taking in everything. She looked so engrossed that he smiled.  
  
"What?" She said.  
  
"Have you never been to a marketplace before?"  
  
She chuckled. "No. I guess I was acting weird again. Sorry."  
  
"It's fine."  
  
They walked on a little longer in silence.  
  
"How is it exactly that you know Relena?" She asked suddenly, her voice calm.  
  
He paused. How to describe it? "We met on my first mission. After that we…just kept seeing each other."  
  
She was watching him closely. "That's not entirely what I meant."  
  
"Oh."  
  
He must have looked uncomfortable because she dropped the subject. They discussed some musical tastes for a while.  
  
Xiran looked off into the crowd. She said, "I know she's very special to you. She's one of the most unique people I've ever met. Selfless to the point of stupidity in some cases…but her faith and inner strength are what make her who she is." She paused uncomfortably. "We don't exactly see eye to eye."  
  
"I know."  
  
She still wasn't looking at him. He didn't really know what to say. What he felt for Relena…was something he couldn't describe. Heero sighed.  
  
Xiran said nothing, and they moved into the heart of the place. Pushed about by the crowd, they separated. In a moment a stream of people had come between him and her. She was gone.  
  
Heero felt something like a cold wind blow through him. Where was she? Turning, he saw two young men, dressed in khakis and jeans, about twenty feet away. He turned back nonchalantly, but his eyes had sharpened. Both of them had been there at James' shop.  
  
They were being followed. Heero was sure of it. Inwardly, he swore.  
  
Someone brushed up against him. Xiran, her navy eyes dark, grabbed his hand. "Behind us."  
  
"Saw them."  
  
"Maybe more?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"The alleys?"  
  
"Let's go."  
  
They moved off quickly through the crowd. The men followed.  
  
As soon as they reached the peripheral edge of the crowd, they made a sharp turn down an alley. They sprinted hard past a homeless man. Heero saw the three meter high wall blocking the alley and didn't slow.  
  
"Wall!" Xiran said.  
  
"Up!" Heero replied. He took position, cupped his hands, and she stepped unhesitatingly onto them. He threw her up. She turned and grabbed his hands as the first man entered the alley. The man whipped out his gun.  
  
Xiran yanked him over and they dropped to the other side, gunshots echoing up the alley.  
  
They turned tail and bolted, but not after throwing a large, flat piece of old roof over the wall.  
  
They sprinted, trying to reach the end of the alley and the open street before the men could jump the wall.  
  
Something ricocheted off the wall near Xiran. Heero knew that the two men had scaled the wall in mere seconds. They were hybrids for sure.  
  
More ricochets. This time Heero saw one of them. But it wasn't a bullet, it was something else.  
  
3 Tranquilizer?  
  
They hit the open street. It was a busy road. They didn't slow down. Cars and trucks flashed by on either side. Heero barely had time to blink. He had Xiran's hand, and that was all he knew. Then there was a huge Mack truck. It had slowed to make a delivery somewhere up the street and was just now speeding up.  
  
"Come on!"  
  
They ran, caught up with it. Xiran was first. She leaped into the space between the cab and the trailer, among the cables and chains. He jumped on a few seconds later. The truck pulled away from the pursuing men and they disappeared in the whoosh of traffic.  
  
He was watching her face. His mind was strangely numb. Even when they got off the truck several minutes later, he was still as unfeeling as he was in the days of Operation Meteor.  
  
The alley they ran to was shadowed and empty. He thought he would still feel nothing but then she turned and looked him in the eyes.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
In a split second his face had changed.  
  
Xiran suddenly understood. But it didn't help.  
  
He slammed her up against the wall. His hands dug painfully into her shoulders. His blue eyes blazed at her. In an instant she saw the pain of betrayal there, and she would have done anything to erase it. But she could not; she had been the one to put it there. Xiran's eyes darkened.  
  
"Those men were shooting at you with tranquilizers!" Heero said, his voice low and hard with anger.  
  
She said, "Let go of me, Heero."  
  
He drew her back and hit her hard against the wall again.  
  
"Why?" He demanded, his voice cold.  
  
Xiran felt her own eyes harden. She said, "Let go of me. Now."  
  
They glared at each other, eyes blazing with cold fire, blue on blue.  
  
He slowly drew back, his expression guarded. He released her. He stood only a few steps away, but the space between them was far larger than that.  
  
Xiran felt something twist inside her chest. She drew in a slow breath and stared him straight in the face.  
  
"I think you already know why, Heero Yuy."  
  
[Duo]  
  
"They've been gone longer than expected," Wufei mused. Duo waved it off.  
  
"They're probably haggling with some unfortunate soul at the market. Can't you just see it? Relentless, the both of them." Duo grinned.  
  
"I suppose," said Trowa.  
  
Silence fell.  
  
* * *  
  
[Heero]  
  
"What kind of mind game is this?" Heero said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving hers. She said nothing, just looked at him. Heero turned his face away. He had listened for five minutes with total concentration to her words. Now she stood across from him and her face was that of a stranger. But he knew her words to be true. Anger surged in him. He did not let it show. He turned back to her.  
  
"You lied."  
  
Xiran looked at him with dark, haunted eyes and said coldly, "Yes."  
  
Heero's icy eyes flared and for a moment he said nothing.  
  
"Why?" His voice was emotionless.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
She knew her eyes were the dangerous, uncaring ones of a soldier. She knew, because it was reflected in his eyes too. This time it was two people trained to show nothing facing each other.  
  
But she was a soldier with nothing left to lose. She had lost it all already, and in these sinking moments she felt what she had so painfully gained back slipping away. Her face became sharp and blank.  
  
"Why does anyone lie?" She said simply. "I did it to protect myself."  
  
"From what? From us? From me? From yourself?"  
  
She cut him off. "From all of it."  
  
"Then all of this means nothing. You lied from the beginning."  
  
[Heero]  
  
Her face twisted slightly, and he was somehow glad.  
  
"No, Heero," she said, shaking her head. "That would also be a lie. Everything I said…about the facilities, the testing, my emotions, how I cared for you and the rest of the pilots…that's all true. The only thing I lied about you know about now. I have nothing else."  
  
"Why should I believe you?"  
  
[Xiran]  
  
She almost winced. That one cut deep.  
  
"…I don't know. I've betrayed your trust. You have no reason to believe me." The silence was heavy. She said, "When I fell with you off the cycle…did you think you knew me?"  
  
Heero stared at her for a long moment, his face inscrutable, and then he nodded. His voice was low, "I did."  
  
She stared at him silently.  
  
"Then I suppose you know me better than any other person living. But that means nothing now." She paused. "Get out of here, Heero Yuy." Her voice darkened. "I don't want to lay eyes on you ever again."  
  
He clenched his fists.  
  
"No. You stood next to us in battle and you lied, you helped us and you lied, you let us trust you. What gives you the right to do that, Xiran Ki'Era? What gives you that privilege?"  
  
"There is no privilege!" she snapped. "All this was bought with blood!"  
  
"Whose?"  
  
"If you have to ask me that, Heero, you're nothing short of a fool."  
  
"A gullible one, maybe, but at least I have my own soul."  
  
"No! No, can't you see? I have nothing left, I am nothing! I'm just a cheap imitation! All this-"she held out her hands. "All this merely masks the remains of a well thought out experiment."  
  
Heero's face was dark and his voice was low. "It's not true. You are just as human as I am, maybe more."  
  
"How would you know?" She hurled back at him.  
  
He didn't say anything.  
  
[Heero]  
  
4 'Where did this rage come from?'  
  
He was full of it, full to bursting, and he didn't know what would happen if he let go. He never had…and he never would. Heero looked into her navy eyes, dark and full of anger. How much of it was directed at him, he didn't know. Some part of him hoped it was not as much as it seemed.  
  
He tried to find words, mentally fumbled them, and finally said nothing.  
  
His silence was answer in itself.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
"I'm leaving," she said. Her voice rang with a stony finality. She did not try to soften it.  
  
She walked away. Her footsteps echoed hollowly. Eyes hard and remorseless, she looked straight ahead, to the busy streets and flow of traffic. She did not think, she just put one foot in front of the other. The alley stretched out ahead of her, the smell rising from the abandoned trash as bitter as the taste in her mouth.  
  
"…I'm not letting you go."  
  
Xiran stopped. She didn't want to, didn't mean to, but she did. Her mouth half opened but no words came out. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to be,' she thought. 'Damn him.'  
  
His face was in her mind. She closed her eyes. When she turned slowly back to him, her countenance was as cold as it had ever been.  
  
"How do you mean that, Heero?" She asked quietly. His expression did not change. He said again,  
  
"I'm not letting you go."  
  
***  
  
[Duo]  
  
A key turned in the lock. Duo looked up, immediately alert.  
  
Heero stepped into the room. He looked as if he'd been in a scuffle; he was scraped and dirty. He raised his eyes to Duo's.  
  
Duo immediately knew something had gone terribly wrong. He stood up, a cry dying on his lips as the look in Heero's eyes changed from weary to utterly cold. Heero moved slightly aside and said in a voice devoid of any expression, "We had an encounter with some dangerous people in the marketplace and now we have the truth about the Raven's whereabouts." He paused to draw breath, and Duo felt the tension thick in the air. The other pilots, all present, stood as silent as death.  
  
Heero said, "We have finally found Six of Ten." He turned towards the door. The one who stepped through it, dark eyes blank and determined, was Xiran Ki'Era.  
  
END  
  
Yes, the secret has finally come out. Xiran and Six are one and the same. How many of you guessed? I swear, it felt like I was dropping hints sloppily and all over the place. Ah well, nothing more to be done about that. I had some real issues with bonding and meaningful dialogue in this one. Agh! But oh well, next chapter will likely contain the first part of Mission One, the pilots first space venture since the end of the war. And this means *grins gleefully* my first big mech fight! Score!  
  
On a side note, I apologize for any random typos. I've been hanging by the seat of my pants for a while now, since my Microsoft word told me that there were too many errors in the document to continue checking it. I suppose I could begin a new fanfic file and continue writing there…but old habits die hard. It depends on how annoyed I get at the typos, I guess. If I get infuriated enough, then I'll relocate…but until then…gomen! ^^  
  
No idea whatsoever what's gonna go on in the next chap…except that Sally will make her big appearance, and the plans for Mission One will be laid down. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks!  
  
~Kywraith 


	10. Flames

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any part of Gundam but I do own everything after EW!  
  
Stealing my ideas will result in your quick and efficient disposal at the hands of my army of succubuses. So don't do it! Xiran, Saze, and Genesis are mine and mine alone. Anyway, on a side note, I apologize for not having any space fights yet. Gomen! I know I promised it at the end of my last chap, but it just didn't fit into the schedule. But be assured, the next chapter will have some hardcore Gundam battles AND a cliffhanger ending. MWAHAHAAA!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
CHAPTER TEN: BITTER FLAMES  
  
  
  
"Is it true?"  
  
Duo's normally genial expression had sharpened, his violet eyes focusing intensely on her face. For the first time since she had met him she saw danger in his eyes, saw the side of him that called itself Shinigami.  
  
All trace of laughter had vanished from his demeanor.  
  
His question hung in the air between her and them, like a thread that was a connection to the person they thought she was.  
  
Without looking at him, she knew just how cold and angry Heero's eyes would be. The others were silent, their faces not yet written with judgment. Only Wufei showed the fury moving beneath his face. It was in the burning of his dark eyes; the accusation of what he already knew to be true.  
  
The girl who called herself Xiran Ki'Era let her unfeeling eyes rake over all of them, knowing that she was stepping to the edge of the precipice of her great lie. She stood there, feeling the question ring with finality upon the air. The eyes of the men in the room were closed to her, like those of strangers.  
  
These men she faced here were the Gundam Pilots. She understood it fully for the first time, witnessing the full force of their battle personas. These were the warriors of peace, boys weaned on war and slim hope, grown into men. These were the ones who stood around her. These were the greatest weapons the United Earth Sphere possessed.  
  
She took a breath, feeling the darkness of her lie yawn beneath her, she said, "Yes."  
  
[Trowa]  
  
So it was true.  
  
Trowa's mind did several mental re-evaluations.  
  
The fighting skills. The heightened senses. The familiarity with the enemy. The viciousness. It all fit together. Fit, yes, but seamlessly, no. As always, there were questions that needed to be asked of Xiran Ki'Era, but now she was Six of Ten as well, and who knew where her loyalties would lie.  
  
Trowa stood at the back near Quatre. He had a full view of the events unfolding before him.  
  
He thought to himself, 'The price of truth is always higher than the lie that spawned it. By now, she has learned that. But what it has taught her, and what it will mean, has yet to be seen.'  
  
[Wufei]  
  
Wufei thought, keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer. I should have learned that by now. No one is really what they seem. Least of all friends like this lying onna who we let into our ranks with all the naiveté of fourth graders.  
  
He looked at her, barely even bothering to hide his disdain. She would have looked the same as always, with her dark maroon hair caught up in a twist and her bangs falling in her sharp oval face--except for the look in her eyes. Colder than Wufei had ever seen them, they were the eyes of someone different, older, and with all the emotion of a predator on a dark night.  
  
He refused to show her just how much she had fooled him with her façade. He stared back unflinchingly, thinking, A formidable fighter, yes, but a fool nontheless.  
  
Xiran moved her eyes emotionlessly over them. To their silence and their unuttered question, she said:  
  
"Yes, I am the hybrid numbered Six of Ten. My codename is Raven. I am of generation two, originally positioned at Facility Omega. My mission is to kill the Gundam Pilots."  
  
Wufei clenched his teeth, feeling his temper flare. "Baka. Do you think I will even consider what you say now? All the words coming out of your mouth could be lies. What matters now is not what you said, or why, but simply that you lied. All the rest of it is meaningless next to that. There's nothing now that you can make me believe." He turned and stalked past the rest of them towards the door.  
  
Her voice stopped him.  
  
"Wufei Chang of the Dragon Clan. Positioned at colony Lagrange Point 5, pilot of Gundams Shenlong and Altron—"  
  
Whirling on her, he replied, "Anyone could know that—"  
  
"—marital status: widower." Her voice was so cold.  
  
Wufei felt his face drain of colour.  
  
"Codename: Nataku. She—"  
  
"Stop it!" His voice was choked.  
  
How dare she! How dare she! He started forward, only to be stopped by Trowa's calmly extended arm. Wufei shook him off furiously but stood his ground.  
  
Xiran simply stared at him flatly.  
  
The rest of the pilots said nothing.  
  
Wufei could barely hold his anger in check. He seethed silently, long buried images of her rising in his mind. Her hair, the way it shone in the light. The way she kept her eyes narrowed when she was angry. Her fierce devotion to what she believed in. All those things he had noticed only at the end…  
  
The images came then, he couldn't stop them: Nataku, fighting in her Gundam to protect the people in the colony.  
  
Meiran, asking him her questions in the field of flowers.  
  
And then Sally.  
  
Wufei's teeth ground together. He became aware of the other pilots, who were watching him expressionlessly, and rearranged his face.  
  
He raised his eyes once again to Xiran's, their depths calm and composed.  
  
'For that, I will never forgive you.'  
  
  
  
[Xiran]  
  
Wufei was the first.  
  
'That was cruel. You see what that did to him'.  
  
She slowly and purposefully turned to face a pair of cobalt eyes. Heero was looking at her like she was the enemy. She thought very clearly, 'I don't care.' She opened her mouth.  
  
"That's enough," Heero snapped.  
  
He knew what she had been about to say.  
  
His glare of ice pierced her, she wanted to turn away but didn't. Slowly she raised her arm and drew back her shirt, exposing her wrist. She said quietly, "If you want proof, all that you'll ever need is in here. In my blood. It's what they want."  
  
[Quatre]  
  
'I could have prevented this.'  
  
Trowa, next to him said, very calmly, "If you are who you say you are, then what are your motivations now? Why haven't you killed us?"  
  
Quatre watched her face. This was a person whom he would trust with his life, but not with a secret.  
  
Her gaze only became frostier.  
  
Heero said in a low voice, "You know all this information about us…but we know nothing of you. And we can't trust you to tell us the truth. Shall we begin calling you Six?"  
  
His tone was surprisingly hard. Xiran's eyes flashed to him, flickering slightly.  
  
"Arcon was the one who called me Xiran," she said. "Six of Ten is the number I was born with."  
  
The pilots were silent. Heero's blue gaze was sharp and aggressive. Quatre could see the effort Xiran put forth to prevent her anger from showing.  
  
"It doesn't matter what you call me. I am the same either way."  
  
She threw one glance at Heero and continued, "I was created and raised in Facility Omega, as one of the ten second generations. I was trained for war, first by hybrid named 21. He was there at the Center, he's the leader of the squad that attacked us. But the man leading 21 is a hybrid named 57." Her dark eyes were starkly full of old hate, burning like gems, just like the night in the bar when Darus tried to hit her in the face. Her hand clenched unconsciously at the fabric of her pants.  
  
"My mission to kill the pilots was simple. I would filter through their entire lives and know them like brothers, and then I would hunt them down. For this I had to learn everything about being in human society, to ensure that I wouldn't give myself away. This was the purpose of my existence, even though I had only one crucial part in the battle that Arcon was preparing for. But 57 and I…we played cruel games with each other."  
  
She stopped. Her eyes were very cold. They all knew what had happened.  
  
"Three and I had overheard a different plan for Genesis from several unknown hybrids. It told of a new time, and a great war. It was what lay beneath Arcon's original plan, for an outside force to enforce a full armistice on the colonies and earth. But we weren't devious enough to convince my commander that we were still ignorant." Quatre could see how much it cost her to remain indifferent while saying that.  
  
"After that I made preparations to leave the facility and destroy all evidence of the Genesis project research. I made sure all my humanity was buried, lest he read my intentions. But that only infuriated him." She paused, her eyes briefly distant.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
1 'Don't think about him, don't think…'  
  
You owe them the truth at least.  
  
Then here it is.  
  
"The one to tens were in a state of cellular breakdown. Their genomes would be unmappable in a short span of time. So 57 administered the final tests, the ones that would be a lethal test of the genetic information.  
  
I wasn't fast enough to stop it. I came upon them in the middle of it. He was gone. But they were still living. So I put them out of their misery."  
  
The silence was icy. The pilots did nothing but look at her. She knew that now, if they didn't trust her before, they surely didn't trust her now. She thought, 'but what does it matter? I have stolen their post war lives from them, just as I have stolen the ones of my comrades. And worse, I have lied to them…and myself.'  
  
[Quatre]  
  
'Oh Xiran. I'm sorry.  
  
I could have prevented this!'  
  
She continued, "I set in motion the plan Three and I had made. I left the facility in my gundam and detonated the research data. Once I came to earth I created a new identity and set about finding you.  
  
I came to earth to stop this war."  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"You said that before, Xiran," Trowa reminded her gently.  
  
She looked at him. "It was Three's wish that the war be stopped."  
  
"That's not good enough." It was Heero this time.  
  
Her eyes flared. "I came back to earth because I wanted the war stopped…and because I will not let Arcon and 57 win this battle."  
  
"Vengeance, then. But for what?"  
  
She said nothing for a time. "For many things."  
  
"That's not good enough." Again, the accusation. Heero had never been like this before.  
  
"For me." She barely kept the snarl out of her voice. She regained her composure. "I want to make them pay. I want them to rue the day they made me. Isn't that reason enough?"  
  
[Duo]  
  
She wouldn't look at him for too long. Her eyes were downcast, her head bent.  
  
His violet eyes were steady as he tied the rope around her wrist. She hadn't been able to look at him since they had come here. Only when he had volunteered to be the one to restrain her had her eyes fully come to rest on his. For a split second he's seen the anger and misery in her gaze, but then she had dropped her eyes and silently come with him.  
  
She was as cooperative as a person resigned to their fate. Duo finished tying her left wrist and began on her right. The silence pressed down on his ears.  
  
The pilots had made the decision to tie her up to the metal pipes in the spare room. They had thought it best that she remain stationary until they could figure out what to do. Duo thought…well he really was focusing rather hard on not thinking at this point. Well, that was partly because he knew that a part of himself was deeply angry and partly because he didn't want to vent until he knew the lowdown on the situation. What Xiran or Six, or whoever she was, had done…well she had her reasons. Whether they were good ones or not was what Duo had to figure out. I never thought she'd do anything to hurt us intentionally. What she did to Wufei…was completely unnecessary. I don't know if he'll ever forgive her. And Heero. I didn't think she'd ever hurt him like that. Duo almost didn't know what to think about her anymore.  
  
Dammit, why wouldn't she look at him?  
  
Xi, he thought, I—he bit his tongue. Be intelligent for once, he told himself. Look before you leap, or however that bloody saying goes.  
  
Xiran's gaze flickered to him briefly and then away. She had seen his irritation, dammit. 'Ok calm yourself, Duo my man.  
  
But don't I have a right to be angry? She lied to me!  
  
Ok that's it, stop having conversations with yourself, Duo! That's definitely a sign of mental instability!  
  
I--  
  
Stop it!!'  
  
Duo looked down at her again, his eyes hard. She was sitting with her back against the wall, her wrists bound up to the pipe just above her head, staring off into the shadows.  
  
Suddenly he couldn't find it in himself to hate her. But for now, silence was the only thing he could give her.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
The silence had taken on the greyness of the shadows. She stared ahead, thinking, 'now is the time where you should be feeling something. Anything. There should be more than this…numbness, this stagnancy. This is what you were wishing for out there and now you have it. Is it worse or is it better, feeling nothing?  
  
…I don't know.'  
  
Duo had paused in the process of completing the last knot. He was standing above her wordlessly.  
  
The shadows lay curled in the corners of the room. She watched them dully. The silence stretched on.  
  
The shadows, like pieces of discarded night, seemed to lengthen. 'They have come back to get me, my demons. I never had monsters under my bed. My monsters were human.  
  
Damned self-pity.'  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment, ignoring the images that flashed by in the darkness. 'If you truly felt nothing, Xiran, then…'  
  
Her eyes snapped open. Violet eyes stared back into hers. Duo was kneeling in front of her, his face not far from hers.  
  
She had nothing to say. His gaze was unreadable. He slowly raised his hands and then with a hard pulling motion, tightened the last knot. It was tighter than it needed to be. And he knew that.  
  
His anger and betrayal flared in his eyes for one second and then it passed. He stood up. At the door he threw one last glance her way. All the pain of his broken trust was in that glance, and it was the last thing she saw before the door closed.  
  
Xiran closed her eyes again. In the dark her face shifted.  
  
She thought, 'It's better…definitely better…'  
  
[Quatre]  
  
"I really don't think we should restrain her."  
  
Wufei looked at him, his eyes dark. "We can't trust her to stay here."  
  
"It might not help at all. It's likely she's able to get out of those bonds, with all her training, " Trowa commented.  
  
"So you're saying she's telling the truth?" Wufei said sharply. His eyes flicked to Duo, who was just coming back into the room.  
  
"Hey hey," Duo said, raising his hands in a gesture of peace, "Calm down, Wu-man. Don't worry about it. My knots are the best out there."  
  
Wufei said nothing, but Quatre could see him bristle. This was not a good situation. He exchanged a glance with Trowa. His green eyes were cool. He nodded slightly.  
  
"Come on, we better sit down and discuss this," Quatre said quietly. Duo obediently plopped himself down and Trowa followed suit, but Wufei remained standing, his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"Aren't you going to sit down, Wufei?"  
  
"Not right now," He snapped. Quatre flinched. Trowa's green eyes narrowed ever so slightly.  
  
"That's fine," Quatre said. Duo was looking around.  
  
"Where's Heero?"  
  
Trowa said calmly, "He's here."  
  
Heero appeared out of the kitchen and sat down. His blue eyes were unreadable, but he was tense. Quatre could see by the hard way his face was that he was still deeply angry.  
  
2 'Oh boy, this is going to be one hell of a meeting…'  
  
[Duo]  
  
"Well what are we supposed to discuss?" Duo asked, putting up his hand after a minute of silence. "We can't really talk about the truth because we really don't know what the truth is, and we'd just start bickering back and forth endlessly until we up and started a fistfight or something. It would start out like this: Quatre would try to say something like, oh sorry, really it's all my fault we're in this situation, and then Trowa would say, no, it's not really your fault, and then Heero would say 'Hn', I would start to laugh, and Wufei would yell 'injustice!' for no reason. After that we'd end up calling in Relena just so she can prevent us from killing each other. What can be accomplished by playing that all out?"  
  
The pilots stared at him.  
  
Uh oh, Duo thought. He could see Wufei's eyes heating up.  
  
"Duo—" Quatre began.  
  
"You are—" Wufei growled.  
  
"A tactless buffoon with all the brains of a brick!" An unexpected voice exclaimed. Hilde, dressed in fresh jeans and a navy top, walked purposefully into the room.  
  
"Hilde!" Duo stood up. She brushed past him and gave him a look out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Sit down." Her voice allowed no room for protest.  
  
Duo sat.  
  
Hilde turned and faced all the pilots. She didn't go as far as to put her hands on her hips, but her whole tone and demeanor suggested that she was doing it verbally.  
  
"First of all," she began, "We need to think about what we're discussing, and what sort of conclusion we want to make." The pilots all stared at her except for Wufei, who only gave her an irritated glance.  
  
Quatre smiled at her and made a 'go ahead' gesture.  
  
She nodded, her manner still businesslike. "We need to list the facts as we know them." She began counting on her fingers.  
  
"Fact: She lied to us from the beginning  
  
Fact: She did no direct action against us.  
  
Fact: She put us in a lot of danger.  
  
Fact: She kept us in dark when we really needed to know information about the hybrids and stuff.  
  
"Fact." She paused and let her gaze rove over them all. "Xiran Ki'Era is the same person as Six of Ten. The same one who protected Relena and myself, the same one who came through for Heero and Duo at the Center. Even though she lied, she is still the same person she was before, only with a little more history attached to the package. This I know for sure. Xiran is still Xiran, no matter what happened before."  
  
With an almost inaudible sound Heero stood up and made for the door.  
  
"I'm not saying we should forgive her." Hilde's voice cut across the room, her tone firm. Her eyes didn't leave Heero's turned back. "All I'm saying is that she's the same person. I know that in espionage and counter- intelligence you have to be able to hide yourself from other people. You all know that. But I know that when I talked with her, it was the real girl I was talking to."  
  
Wufei, silent throughout her summary, said darkly, "You know you can't be entirely sure of that."  
  
He passed his dark gaze over the rest of the pilots. "What I saw in her sometimes seemed to be the real thing, yes, but in her also is the instincts of a predator, and those are what make her untrustworthy. You've all seen it. When she fights she is forced to let some of her true self show through." The pilots were silent as Wufei's gaze traveled over them. "A cat has no loyalties to anyone, and at any moment that serves it best, it could tear out your throat."  
  
Duo felt his eyes narrow at Wufei's cold statements, but he knew that part what he said, however harsh, was true.  
  
[Xiran]  
  
"At least I don't have to look into Heero's eyes anymore…" Xiran said softly to the shadows.  
  
The sound of her voice fell upon the silence and was smothered by the darkness. She stared at the floor between her feet. She wasn't thinking of them, not at all. She didn't care. They weren't meant to be a part of her life. The past few days… had only been stolen time.  
  
Stolen time.  
  
Xiran suddenly jerked against her bonds with all her strength. The ropes bit into her wrists but held.  
  
She shook her head back and forth, holding back any sound that threatened to escape her.  
  
Just as suddenly as her anger had come, it left her completely. She sagged back against the wall. She hung her head low, pressed her eyes shut.  
  
"And now you've ruined it…you've ruined it all."  
  
[Heero]  
  
"No."  
  
His voice was low. He didn't turn from his place at the door.  
  
"She has loyalties all right. Whether or not they are to us is the question you should be asking."  
  
He didn't wait for them to respond. He slipped on his jacket and moved to the door.  
  
When his hand was halfway to the doorknob, it turned on its own. He froze.  
  
From behind him, Duo said, "Heero—"  
  
Someone knocked on the door.  
  
The pilots stood quickly.  
  
"The onna betrayed us." Wufei's voice was full of bitter certainty.  
  
"Don't jump to conclusions," Quatre said.  
  
"Quiet!" Hilde hissed.  
  
Heero drew his gun and glanced back once at Duo, who nodded. In one swift motion Heero undid the lock and threw open the door.  
  
"Well what a warm welcome," a familiar voice said, sounding bemused. "I missed you too." Blue eyes looked calmly down the barrel of Heero's gun. Not letting his surprise show, Heero lowered his weapon.  
  
The person standing so casually in the hall was Sally Po.  
  
  
  
As Sally, with her hair drawn back into a ponytail, stepped into the room, he saw Wufei stiffen. Heero shut the door and leaned against it, his face inscrutable. He watched as the normal pleasantries and greetings were exchanged.  
  
Wufei's face had gone completely blank. As Sally was greeted by an exuberant Duo, who thought the whole situation was rather amusing, Heero saw his jaw clench.  
  
Wufei suddenly whirled and began to walk out of the room.  
  
Sally stopped him. "Leaving so soon?" Her blue eyes were faintly questioning.  
  
Wufei raised his eyes to her face. "Hello, Sally." He gave her a cool nod and left.  
  
Sally stared after him for a moment, then turned away.  
  
"Good to see I was missed." Her strong, beautiful face was as composed as ever.  
  
Quatre only smiled at her. "What the heart knows isn't always what the mind thinks."  
  
[Duo]  
  
The sound of the door closing was anticlimactic in the given situation, but it was loud in Duo's ears. He didn't even have to turn around to know what had happened.  
  
"Aw shit," he murmured to himself.  
  
"What is it?" Hilde said quietly.  
  
He suddenly swung around and gave her an exuberant hug. "Glad you're feeling alright, babe!"  
  
Her eyes widened with surprise. Duo pressed his cheek to hers.  
  
"Heero's gone but I'll be seeing him soon." His words were even and whispered right in her ear.  
  
He felt her nod once.  
  
"Out of here, you wretch!" She cried, throwing him off. "Go and get me some morphine and beer!"  
  
"Ouch, no wonder you were so crusty today," he said in a teasing voice. "Should I get you some Tylenol 5 for menstrual too?"  
  
With an outraged cry she threw a pillow, which he easily dodged.  
  
"You better make that one up to me!" She yelled, waved a fist at him. He grinned impishly and scooted to the door.  
  
"Be back soon!" He threw back over his shoulder at the remaining pilots. Then he was gone.  
  
[Hilde]  
  
"Is he like that ALL the time?" Sally wondered aloud, sounding wryly amused.  
  
"Yep, sure is." Hilde grinned. "And I wouldn't want it any other way."  
  
Her blue eyes met Sally's and her tone became more serious. "Here Sally, I'll bring you up to speed…"  
  
[Duo]  
  
"If I was a Heero, then where would I be?"  
  
He stood on the street beneath the night sky. The buildings lining the street soared up into the darkness with modern ease, but they were nothing compared to the infinite expanse of the sky. Duo stared up at the stars shining faintly through the cloud cover and let out a long sigh. 'Heero, old buddy, what are you doing out here? Going for a midnight stroll is not usually in your agenda.'  
  
He dug his hands in his pockets and pondered.  
  
Nothing came. Ah well.  
  
"Give me a sign!" He implored the quarter full moon. He waited.  
  
Of course, nothing happened.  
  
Duo shrugged good naturedly and began walking down the street towards the slums, passing through the yellow haze of the streetlights. Ahead of him the city glowed with its own dirty light. Duo smiled to himself wryly.  
  
"Home sweet home…"  
  
All of a sudden he noticed some overturned trashcans up ahead. He was approaching a stretch of deserted buildings and he guessed this was one of earth's many ganglands. Judging from the graffiti, there were multiple groups in this area. Duo smiled to himself and rubbed his knuckles, a dangerous glint in his eye.  
  
"It's not MY fault I need to relieve some stress. If they just so happen to be beaten to a pulp in the process…well, no big loss there."  
  
He followed the trashcan carnage to a broken set of windows. And then to some battered dumpsters. Mmm.  
  
"An interesting trail of destruction," Duo said to himself. Looking about somewhat mournfully, he said, "Looked like fun, though." He passed by more evidence of vented anger. "Follow the yellow-brick road!" He sang, adding a little skip to his step. "Lalalalaa…."  
  
He reached the top of a slight incline in the road.  
  
He stopped and became motionless. Far up the street was a familiar figure. Heero stood beneath the harsh light of the streetlamps in a black jacket and jeans. Following him was a group of approximately twelve young men, armed to the teeth with crowbars and other blunt objects. Likely sharp objects too.  
  
'All of a sudden this little stroll has gotten somewhat interesting,' Duo thought.  
  
Heero knew they were there, knew it for sure. What was he waiting for?  
  
The gang members, dressed in black and grey, began catcalling and yelling. They began to close in, like a smug pack of wolves.  
  
'But this prey has got more bite than you think, my little friends. There's gonna be some serious damages done here tonight if you carry on with this. He's pissed off, and he's NEVER pissed off. This is gonna be one hell of a wild ride…'  
  
Heero turned slowly and his icy gaze swept over them all. Then he calmly moved forward and fell into the darkness of a nearby alley.  
  
The gang followed.  
  
[Hilde]  
  
"So…how bad is she?"  
  
"What do you mean?" She looked at Sally quizzically.  
  
"Well, she either feels bad about it or she doesn't. From what you've told me, she does have a conscience. So how is she feeling now?"  
  
Hilde looked away. "I don't know. I haven't actually talked to her since I heard."  
  
Sally's gaze was understanding. "She hurt you too." It wasn't really a question.  
  
Hilde shrugged, "Yeah yeah, but it's not really important. The very idea of she's been through makes my flesh crawl. Whatever I feel pales in comparison. It doesn't matter. I'm okay."  
  
"Do you really think so?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then why haven't you gone to see her?"  
  
Hilde paused.  
  
"Damn you for being so perceptive," she sighed.  
  
"And…?"  
  
"Fine fine, I'm going…but remember, you forced me into it."  
  
Hilde stopped a foot away from the spare room door. She stared at it. Stared at the colour, the grain of the wood, the shininess of the doorknob. She even began to examine the doorjambs before she shook herself and sighed. She stood up straight, her eyes shifted and a hint of determination came into them.  
  
She thought privately, 'Damn you Sally Po. I really don't want to be doing this right now. I want more time to sit and think…or just to let things sink in a little bit!' She let a breath out slowly through her teeth.  
  
'But there's no time to waste with the hybrids running loose. And she is my friend.'  
  
She reached a hand toward the knob, and as her hand closed on it, her mind whispered, a friend that betrayed you. Hilde gritted her teeth as her anger swept through her. Her hand closed hard on the knob, and she thought, 'I can't just ignore this! Dammit Xi you lied, you lied to me after I trusted you with no questions asked! I was the only one besides Duo who bothered—Stop it!' Hilde took a steady breath and shoved open the door, thinking, 'I have a goddamn right to be angry—'  
  
She stopped.  
  
Xiran was sitting on the single bed. She was facing the window. The shadow of her turned back pooled across the bed. The ropes that had bound her lay curled on the floor.  
  
The door closed with a barely audible sound.  
  
Hilde stood with her back to it, staring at the silent scene. Xiran was motionless, outlined in pale starlight from the nearby window.  
  
'Aw Xi…'she thought.  
  
Hilde sat down at the far edge of the bed. The bedsprings creaked noisily and then subsided.  
  
They sat like that for a long time.  
  
Finally Hilde said, "So…"  
  
Xiran didn't respond.  
  
Hilde tried again. "So…?"  
  
She waited. Nothing happened. She faced the opposite wall, thinking of those few times Xiran had laughed. How long ago that seemed now.  
  
Xiran's voice was very quiet. "…What are you expecting me to say?"  
  
Hilde felt her temper flare within her, along with her heart. "Well…an apology would do for now, I suppose."  
  
"…I'm sorry, Hilde."  
  
"Don't give me crap," she said sharply, trying to hold herself back. "If you don't mean it just say so! I know you probably didn't mean to do this to us intentionally, but all the same you did! You—"  
  
"It was." Her voice was flat.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was intentional. I meant to lie to you, to anyone who asked me who I was."  
  
"Then what the hell?" Hilde flared. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Maybe I did misjudge you—"  
  
She suddenly stopped, a sudden understanding dawning on her.  
  
In one swift movement she was on the other side of the bed, standing right in front of Xiran. She had a brief feeling of satisfaction to see the surprise in her eyes, but it did nothing to stop her hand.  
  
The sound of the slap was sharp and loud.  
  
"You're trying deliberately to push us away!" Hilde cried, glaring furiously. Xiran had one hand up to her face in surprise, her eyes for once clear of all shadows. She was genuinely shocked. Hilde didn't care. She shook her head back and forth, her eyes full of angry tears.  
  
"You're pushing us away," She hissed at her. "You're doing it because you think it's best for us not to be involved with you. Isn't it true? I know it is! I see the look in your eyes, no matter how hard you try to hide it!" Xiran's dark eyes were still blankly shocked.  
  
Hilde jabbed a finger at her. "Well who died and said you could tell us what to do? You have no right to make that decision for us! We all have our problems and we've been through bad shit but we just have to deal with it! You're just like Duo with hiding all his issues but you suck at it! We've gotten over other people's issues, but you didn't trust us your past with us and that's why we don't trust you! You may never have had anyore else to trust before but dammit you have us now and just deal with it!"  
  
Xiran slowly dropped her hand from her face. An angry red mark was imprinted on the pale skin of her cheek. Her dark eyes flashed.  
  
Finally, some anger, Hilde thought.  
  
"I never…wanted this," She said in a hard, low voice.  
  
"Wanted what? To be caught red handed? Would it have been okay it we hadn't found out?"  
  
"No!" She said, her voice rising. "I only wanted to come to earth and save it and then--"  
  
Xiran stopped. She didn't look up. Hilde's eyes softened.  
  
"--maybe I could forget." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.  
  
Hilde sat down on the bed and took Xiran in her arms. She felt her stiffen at first, and then she went strangely limp. She said softly, "Xi, I'm still here. I always will be."  
  
Hilde thought, she's just like Duo…oh the stupidity….I can't take too much more of this.  
  
Finally she felt Xiran return the embrace, first tentatively and then with a fierceness that almost broke Hilde's heart.  
  
"I didn't think…didn't want you to hate me," Xiran whispered into the dark. Hilde shook her head.  
  
"Shh. It's okay, it's okay…"  
  
After a time, Xiran said, "Will he…?"  
  
"I don't know," Hilde said truthfully.  
  
"I did my best to hurt him…"  
  
"Yeah…" Hilde acknowledged. "I think Heero's a little irritated. But I'm sure he'll find some way to get over it."  
  
[Duo]  
  
'Shit shit shit! What is he DOING? Turning down dark alleys when there's an armed gang in your tail is generally NOT in the self-preservation handbook! Heero you idiot! Aw man, I really was hoping to avoid getting stabbed today!'  
  
Duo broke into a silent run. The street was now empty; the gang and the Perfect Soldier had vanished into the maw of the alley. 'This is so definitely NOT cool!'  
  
He came to the mouth of the alley just as Heero was slowly turning around to face the gathered pack of savages. Duo's mouth went dry. He cringed. 'Aw shit…'  
  
Heero's eyes were the stuff of nightmares. The cobalt blue colour was fused with a menacing desire for violence, and the cold control of a trained killer. Heero casually completed his revolution and faced his pursuers, his stance belying the intensity of his gaze. The gang members, completely unfazed, drew out their weapons. Steel glittered in the darkness.  
  
An icy smile shifted Heero's emotionless face. He drew out his black handgun with the slow confidence of an assassin. The faces of the gang members changed now, their expressions lengthening and distorting with fear. Duo stood frozen at the mouth of the alley, watching as his friend let the weapon dangle from his fingers. 'Heero…what are you doing?' He wanted to say it but couldn't.  
  
Heero's eyes fixed suddenly on Duo's. Nothing registered on his face. He slowly took a firm grip on the gun.  
  
Heero—Duo wanted to say. Don't—  
  
In a sudden motion Heero emptied the magazine onto the ground and dropped the gun. He kicked it behind him.  
  
In an instant Duo understood. But it was too late.  
  
In a blur of motion the gang leapt at Heero and he turned to meet them head on. Duo thought, 'Heero, we've been through lots of scrapes together in the past, you know, being guerillas and occasional suicidal maniacs, but I've got to say that this has got to be the STUPIDEST thing you have EVER done!'  
  
"You BAKA!" Duo bellowed. But he was already running forward.  
  
He threw himself into the fray.  
  
[Trowa]  
  
"You knew didn't you?"  
  
Quatre started in surprise. He turned and stared at him, his light eyes wide.  
  
He had seen the look in Quatre's eyes as they had all stood there in the hall. Now Quatre could say nothing, but Trowa knew.  
  
"And you didn't tell us?"  
  
Quatre slowly shook his head.  
  
"I promised her I wouldn't."  
  
"Quatre sometimes you have to get your priorities straight. Someone could have gotten hurt."  
  
"She wouldn't do anything to harm us."  
  
"But the ones chasing her would."  
  
"…I'm sorry, Trowa. But she needed someone to believe in her."  
  
Trowa sighed. "Quatre, you never cease to amaze me." His green eyes were gentle.  
  
Quatre smiled but shook his head. "I'm not always what you think me to be, Trowa."  
  
Trowa turned slowly away, trying to rearrange his thoughts. But he kept seeing Xiran and Heero glaring at each other. "Some people hide themselves so completely that eventually they don't know who they are. They can become so lost that they even hurt those they care for the most…"  
  
Quatre came up close behind him. He said softly, "Not you…"  
  
[Heero]  
  
He saw the young man's eyes widen as his fist made a hard connection with the underside of his jaw. Before the blood had a chance to spray out of his mouth Heero was turning away, meeting the charge of a second man. This one would have hit him-- if he'd remained standing in the same place.  
  
Now he was in the air. He came down hard on the man's back. He barely had time to register the satisfying impact of the hit before a crowbar smashed into his ribs. His blue eyes flashed as he grabbed the end of it on its second swing and jammed the end into the guy's face.  
  
Somewhere near him Duo was landing quick, snakelike punches on anyone who crossed him. The flash of a blade focused Heero's attention on a man with black hair. A smug, cocky looking bastard. The guy ran forward, blade slashing. Heero evaded the clumsy attack and tripped the guy on his face. Just as he paused to survey the damage a huge weight leaped on top of him.  
  
Next to him Duo delivered a quick side kick followed by an uppercut to a man with iron knuckles. Duo, as always, was quick, vicious, and efficient.  
  
But right now he didn't care.  
  
The guy on top of him had a metal pipe in his hands, and was apparently trying to crush his throat with it. Heero reached back, got a good hold on him and threw him hard into the nearest wall. Heero heard someone coming up behind him, and turned just in time to avoid the first sloppy punch, but not the second.  
  
The guy's meaty fist slammed into the side of his head with a force that should have dislodged his brain. Heero went down seeing bloody stars, and felt at least three people jump on top of him.  
  
For the first time since he had dropped his gun a coherent thought registered in his brain: Relena was right. Relena was right all along.  
  
With a sudden surge of raw rage Heero threw off one attacker, whirled, and smashed the nose of a man about to drive a foot into his balls. Heero's eyes were wide and strangely blank as he shoved the nearest guy into the wall and then drove his head into the bricks. Heero turned and delivered a full roundhouse kick flat in the face of a charging gang member. The man flew back and smashed heavily into one of his comrades. As Heero came towards them they feebly tried to get up and run. He closed in on them, seeing the naked fear in their faces. His blue eyes were cold and utterly merciless. He stopped about three feet from them. In a low, toneless voice he said, "Run. Run while you can."  
  
They ran.  
  
Heero turned and faced the remaining gang members.  
  
He blankly wiped blood off his mouth.  
  
He said, "Anyone else care to try?"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Duo was irritated.  
  
"You are SUCH an idiot! What the hell was that!" He was yelling in his ear as they exited the alley and continued down the street. The gang had retreated back to its hole to lick its collective wounds, but Heero was still burning with anger.  
  
He kept walking.  
  
"I could have taken care of it myself."  
  
"And this is all the thanks I get for helping you get your ass out of trouble! Aren't we feeling ungrateful today!"  
  
Heero gave him a cool glance.  
  
"Shouldn't you be in bed?"  
  
"Well yeah I would be—if I wasn't out here looking for YOU. I swear if Hilde finds any marks on my body she is going to ROAST your ass…"  
  
"Yeah." He picked up his pace. Duo had to struggle to keep up.  
  
"Hey! Don't block me out of this! Talk to me!"  
  
'What the hell did he want, a group therapy session? Why wouldn't he go away?'  
  
Duo's violet eyes flared angrily. He grabbed Heero's arm.  
  
"Just because you're not in your bloody Gundam and you don't have a self destruct button doesn't mean you have to find new and interesting ways to kill yourself!"  
  
Heero thought, 'that wasn't what I was trying to do. What the hell do you know?'  
  
Duo suddenly stepped in front of him. Heero stopped.  
  
"Listen to me." Duo's voice had gone low and firm.  
  
"This may be the only sound advice I'll ever give you. You can rant and rave and throw things all you like, but in the end it only leads to more emotional constipation, and we all know you don't need any more of that. In the end…you have to talk to her. That's all there is to it. It's taken me almost a year to figure that one out. Talk to her, Heero!"  
  
Heero felt his anger rise to choke him. He brushed past Duo without a backward glance.  
  
"You're only hurting yourself you know!" Duo called. Heero didn't turn. He wasn't even listening.  
  
'Never. I will never do that. There is no price on atonement.'  
  
He walked away and vanished into the darkness of the night.  
  
[Relena]  
  
"Hello, is that you, Quatre? Can I please speak to Heero?"  
  
"Well, he's not really in right now. Can I take a message? Is everything okay, Relena?"  
  
"Oh. Yes, things are fine." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She took a deep breath.  
  
"Quatre, I have important news. The Preventers have cracked the copy of the hybrid disk. We have all the information we need to make a decisive move."  
  
"We'll be ready for it."  
  
Relena thought she heard a trace of pain in his voice. She thought, I'm so sorry, Quatre…  
  
Then the thing that had been at the back of her mind ever since Lady Une had called her with the info came to the surface. "Quatre, will Xiran be a part of it?"  
  
There was a slight pause.  
  
"I don't know if Xiran's going to be joining us on this one…"  
  
"Is she hurt?"  
  
"No, she's not physically injured."  
  
"Quatre, what's happened?"  
  
She heard him sigh. She said, "Tell me everything."  
  
So he did.  
  
* * *  
  
Six of Ten. Xiran was Six of Ten.  
  
All of her suspicions had been confirmed.  
  
Her heart burning, she said, "And Heero?" She almost didn't want to know the answer to her unspoken question. She held her breath, tried to be calm.  
  
His slight hesitation said everything.  
  
Relena gripped the phone, her fingers white.  
  
She said, "I'll be over in the morning, with a copy of the disc."  
  
"And then we'll begin something we thought we had ended."  
  
"Yes." Relena closed her eyes and then opened them. "This will be AC 197, era of the United Earth Sphere—Mission One."  
  
Then Quatre said the words she knew too well:  
  
"Mission, accepted."  
  
END  
  
Well, I hope that was at least interesting. This chap was harder to write than most because of the deep emotions and meaningful dialogue. Ack, dialogue, dialogue, the bane of my writing existence. But anyway, any suggestions for scenes or battles for Mission One would be much appreciated! I know basically what's happening, but I still need to fill in a lot of plot holes. Anyway, thanks so much to Seeress, Ali, Athy, Meghanna Starsong, and Lady Ling Da for reviewing! It means so much to me! And here's a special thanks to Shinigami Concubine and Seeress for helping me with ideas! I couldn't have done it without you.  
  
~Kywraith 


	11. Burning: Part I

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BURNING 

The Black Phoenix Saga Strikes Back!

Oh the shame! The shame! I'm so sorry for not updating! GOMEN!! My muses deserted me in the midst of personal crisis and spent the summer in a fictional beach soaking up fictional sun. They left me! *sniffle* But I'm back in business and ready for action. I swear! The next two chappies are going to be very important to everything, and I have to spit them out. But alas, they will be insanely long. I can't seem to stop myself from babbling. It just keeps coming...but at least it's coming, ne? Anyway, this chappie is my sweat and my blood as I struggled to overcome my writer's block, so it might not flow so easy.  But I think it's at least interesting. This will be the direct lead up to Mission One, the first big hurdle in the story. I can't wait for the fighting. ^^ And PLEASE if you have suggestions or any random thoughts while reading this, TELL ME! I really need them. My muses are still being moody. Shh, don't tell them I said that. But on to the story! 

Warning: Some serious angst in this chappie. But some very interesting developments too. READ ON!

CHAPTER ELEVEN: MISSION ONE: PART I—THE TASTE OF BLOOD

"They have her."

His back was turned to him, and Saze could see that the powerful muscles of his back and shoulders were tense. He was facing the window, his frame seeming to fill it. 

Saze waited for his superior to face him. He kept his golden eyes flat and impassive, knowing what was coming. 

"You have failed me, Saze." The voice was low and quiet. Saze didn't have to strain to hear the anger in the tone. He said nothing, merely stared at the other's turned back. 

"She was there in that building and she slipped right through your grasp. She was ten feet from you, 21. Ten feet! How much closer could you have gotten before you actually did something? You failed to successfully pursue her. You failed to prevent the pilots from stealing information. You failed even to kill one of them. Tell me, Saze…21… what exactly are you good for? It's a wonder you've managed to stay in your current position." 57 turned, his yellow eyes narrow and feral. "Arcon will not be pleased."

Saze didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. Tonelessly he said, "If I have failed, then so have you, Superior Officer 57. You have failed as well." Saze's gaze was level. "…And not for the first time."

57 bristled, his amber eyes flaring. But his face never changed. He turned the rest of the way around with a smile that was too calm and too fake. Saze remained impassive. He expected a blow.

A memory of Six's bruised face slipped through his mind. The perpetual look of rage in her blue eyes was burned into his mind.

 57 slowly approached him. The size of his larger form, more muscular than Saze's, made 57 seem to loom over him. 57 moved forward until he was looking down into Saze's golden eyes, his own gaze narrow and menacing. His stance was aggressive and the air was charged with his scent in an unspoken challenge. Saze stared hard up into his yellow eyes for a long moment, fighting the urge to return the aggression. Finally he turned his head to the side, averted his eyes, acknowledging 57's dominance. After a moment he stepped back and again raised his eyes to meet 57's yellow gaze. 

"Sir," was all he said. It was enough.

57 couldn't quite disguise the self satisfied gleam in his eyes. 

"Now, Saze, we need to calculate the seriousness of this situation." He began to discuss Six's possible whereabouts on earth. 

Saze, looking impassively at 57's face, thought, I can see how she could have hated you. 

He had tried to stop thinking about Six. But every time he saw 57, it reminded him of her. And it reminded him that he had come to want to defy his superiour officer.

Saze forcefully reined in his thoughts and focused on what 57 was saying. 

"—losing track of her once she entered the earth's atmosphere was inevitable. Her machine is far superiour to any we have right now. But that's soon to change. Arcon is beginning new plans." 57 gave Saze a feral smile. Saze's face revealed nothing of the surprise he felt. If this was true, it meant that he had truly fallen out of Arcon's good will. 

57 was looking at him strangely, his yellow eyes probing. Saze let the momentary anger drain out of him. Ignoring his thoughts, he said, "I have not been informed of such plans, sir."

"You will, soon." The look in 57's eyes was oddly satisfied. He continued, "She's infiltrated the lives of her targets, but we know that she isn't working for our causes any longer. She hasn't destroyed them; she seems to have made an alliance." 57 looked up at Saze. 

Saze said, "Yes, it has been confirmed that she is working with the men who were former Gundam pilots. We don't know about the terms of their alliance, or how much she has told them, but we can be sure that the pilots will be coming for us soon. We don't know their weapons capabilities, considering the Gundams are supposed destroyed, but we can be sure that their attack will be formidable. Together, Six and the pilots are the only force that stands in our way."

"We will eliminate them." 57's yellow eyes flashed.

Saze didn't have to look at him to know the look on his face. "Affirmative. I will not underestimate them." 

57 smirked, his yellow eyes derisive. "And I will not underestimate her."

Saze was dismissed. As he left, he saw 57 once more at the window. The impression of his large, dark, silhouette at the window was strangely unsettling. 

 Six, for your own well-being, he thought, stay far away from here. 

_'Things are not as they seem.'      _

[Sally]

My God. Things are so much worse than I ever thought possible. 

Sally ran a hand through her hair. 

Ok, this is stupid. You're not afraid of him, he's just a proud Chinese who happens to wield a katana and pilot a weapon of mass destruction. And he has problems. What's there to be afraid of? 

Sally stared momentarily at the wall, her expression blank. 

She thought,…Everything.

Sally pursed her lips and sighed. Letting things stand the way they were--ambiguous, irritating, and extremely nauseatingly painful—would only worsen the situation. His fire and pride would never let him be the first to break the stalemate. Never. So it was up to her to do something about it. 

That in itself was annoying, because he hadn't bothered to return her calls for three months. 

Sally set her hands down firmly on the bedside dresser and leaned on it, her eyes closed. 

Being bitter was really so much easier than being rational. It just wouldn't accomplish anything. The bitterness would only fester and slowly destroy…what? Why was she putting herself through this? Why was she letting herself get so worked up? He wasn't a very nice person. He usually didn't even bother to pretend that he enjoyed her company. Those months that they had spent working together at the Preventers surely didn't prove anything. Those times he had let down his Great Chinese Wall and forgot about his pride sure didn't mean anything. 

Sally sighed out slowly and opened her eyes. Her pale blue gaze was quiet and determined. Of course it didn't mean much.

Did it?

[Wufei]

`Punch. Kick. Punch. Punch!

Twice again in rapid succession. 

American kickboxing. Clumsy, aggressive, powerful. 

He was sweating. His shoulders and legs ached and throbbed with his heartbeat. His body was pushed to the limit, the nerves dancing, the muscles straining, and it was nearing the point of exhaustion. But slowing down was not what he had in mind. He changed techniques as his strength ebbed and he smashed the punching bag hard in transition. 

He could barely feel his hands anymore, they seemed to be numbed by the blows, and they were painful to the touch, but each impact spurred him on, made him want the pain more. His teeth were gritted, but against something far more subtle than the hurt in his hands. 

Part of what drew him to training was the way it heightened his senses, made his mind and his body connect with each other in blazing energy. It was a feeling he had never been able to duplicate. 

Until now.

He grunted with effort and began inflicting a new wave of punishment upon the black bag before him.  Blackness danced at the corners of his vision. Sweat trickled down into his eyes. He heard himself panting and then a kind of snarl escaped him. It was the first sound he had made since the beginning. 

Wufei snapped his eyes shut as a wave of dizziness swept over him. In the blackness behind his eyes she haunted him. Xiran. He drew in a breath, ignoring the tightness in his chest, and pounded on, no longer feeling the blows, just knowing he was hitting the bag. For one more moment he lost himself in the frenzy, was nothing, was no one, and then it stopped. '_Damn you, Xiran! Damn you! Damn you!'_

His punches slowed, his body reminding him that it was still there and needful of his care. He ignored it. It didn't matter. What mattered here was the focus. He didn't want to think about her. Didn't want to think about her words. Not at all. What she was was a lying woman who had betrayed them. Betrayed them! And he had let them see it, there in the room, he had let them see his pain. He was a shame to the Dragon Clan. To...her. And the rest didn't even understand! They couldn't. Not even...

 Biting back another snarl, Wufei began hitting the bag again. He couldn't even control his thoughts! What am I if I can't even control myself? Nothing but a shame to all that I once held dear. That thought stopped his inner dialogue completely. He continued on mechanically, just moving, carrying on the motions. And abruptly he thought of pale blue eyes and the hurt in them that was his alone to bear.  

His blows came harder, with greater precision. His brown eyes darkened. 

Suddenly the door to the gym opened. It creaked.

He knew who had come through it.

He didn't look away from the bag. He kept staring at it, punching, not feeling the sweat run down his back to soak his shirt. Punch. Punch. Kick. Punch. He stayed that way until she had moved halfway across the room. She knew he had seen her. 

She stopped. Wufei gave the bag one last hard blow and stepped smoothly away from it. His back was to her. He began taking off the cushioning material wrapped around his hands. 

He felt her eyes on his back. She was silent. Waiting.

The silence stretched on. The last of the material dropped to join its brother on the table. 

No excuses now. Wufei raised his head, his brown eyes staring straight ahead. He could feel her eyes on him.

He heard her sigh softly.

"I used to think you missed me." Her voice was quiet, unaccusing. He felt her gaze on his back as the silence pressed on.

With a hint of steel, she said, "But maybe I should have taken those unanswered messages as a hint."

 Silence.

She sighed again, and this time he could hear the pain in it.

"Sometimes I wonder why I come back..."

He turned on her. Biting back his anger, he said, "Then why did you come back? If it wasn't for my good looks and biting wit, then what was it? What is it, Sally? Do you have an itch you can't scratch?" He refused to let bitterness into his voice.  

His words struck her like blows. Each one hardened her eyes, whitened her face. But why should he care? He didn't need her.

Wufei said in a quiet and deadly voice, "If you want, I'll let you be on top."

For a long moment she didn't move. She just looked at him, her pale eyes seeming to pierce him. Then she turned and walked away. Her shoes made little sound on the floor. When she reached the door she threw one last glance at him. Softly she said, "...Fine." 

And then she left.

Wufei stared at the door, his brown gaze still burning. He turned away from it, found himself staring at the blood on the bandages on the floor.  In one motion he turned and savagely threw one blow at the punching bag. As he felt the blood run down his knuckles, he bent his head and whispered, "I'm such an asshole."

[Duo]

With a long suffering sigh, Duo closed the main door behind him. Onyx Five's silence descended upon him as he made his way to the bedroom he and Hilde shared. He listened intently as he passed the gym, but Wufei didn't seem to be in there. Oh well. No more scandals for tonight. Time for some good shut-eye. It had been a big, monstrously huge day, and he needed some beauty sleep. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling for swelling. Nope. Sweeet. 

"Tomorrow, the world will just have to find another bitch, because I am SO not taking crap from it right now," he murmured to himself. He opened the door to the room and closed it, saying, "I mean, what has it been lately? Please come get me, world, I really need more pain! I haven't quite had my share yet! I mean really, the next one's either going to save me or its gonna kill me.  I am the world's freaking chew-toy...no, not a tickle me Elmo...or a GI Joe, noooo...I am a CHEW TOY..." his eyes fell on the person-shaped lump in the bed. "Whoops, intelligent of me to--" The lump sat up. 

It was not Hilde.

Duo stopped, his mouth briefly hanging open.

It was Xiran.  

Duo rubbed his temples and sighed. "Ok so, I guess my knots really aren't that good and I suppose I should be fairly disgusted with myself for letting you get out so easy because I obviously can't tie knots for beans and how did you get in my bed?" He fixed her with his violet gaze. 

Xiran tensed, her face inscrutable, her eyes unable to leave his. Her mouth parted, her dark gaze almost—

Hilde laughed from somewhere in the shadows. Duo turned to face her as she emerged into the faint light from the window.

 "Hey babe....so I was wondering when you would get around to telling me you were sleeping with other chicks… "

Hilde laughed again and kissed him. "Shut up," she said. "I don't need your lip today."

 She took his chin. Stared up into his eyes. "You were in a fight," She observed. Her mouth curved wryly. 

Duo shrugged. "No biggie. I'm perfectly fine. I can even stand up to inspection!" He held out his arms. Hilde's hands found their way up his shirt. "Oh really?" she purred. He shivered with pain --and something else--as they found a bruise.  "Ok so I got punched a few times," he admitted,  "but I tried really hard to avoid it. Really!" 

"Oh, that's good." Her smile was irritatingly satisfied. She slid her hands out of his shirt and smiled at him in a way that made his pants feel too tight. She said, "But we'll have to discuss the finer points of that later. I'm just glad you're still in one piece." 

"Me too, babe."

"But what about..."

"-- Heero?" Xiran's voice was controlled and even.

Duo slowly turned to face her. He saw her tense but her gaze didn't waver. He knew that look. He'd seen it a long time ago... in a mirror.  He looked at her for a long moment. He said quietly, "I don't know."

She dropped her eyes, almost guiltily. She looked at her hands. She said, "I'm..." she suddenly raised her eyes to his, her face set. "...I'm so sorry, Duo. For everything, and--" He waved a hand and cut her off. His eyes held hers. 

"Hey, I know you are. It'll just take some time." 

She gave him a small, faint smile--but said nothing.

[Heero]

What was he doing here? He must be out of his mind. 

Well, a part of him said sourly, the whole freaking world seems to be a tad off kilter so why can't you be?

Heero forcefully silenced that little part of him and stared up at the ominous form of the house. It spanned four square kilometers and squatted beneath the pale moonlight, throwing a pitch black shadow. 

From here it looked almost insubstantial...ghostly and silver edged. The moonlight didn't soften the night tonight, it made it full of shards. Or knives. 

He would not think of knives in the dark.

A cloud shifted across the moon and plunged the twilight scene into shadow. By the time it had moved on Heero had already bypassed the dogs and watchmen. He observed one of them passing below him, completely oblivious to the intruder on her grounds. 

His cold eyes watched impassively as her flashlight faded out of sight behind a corner of the house. He turned his attention to the shingles and ledges in front of him. He concentrated on putting one hand in front of another.

Letting himself wonder why he was here was not a good idea. Something had come over him on this night and he didn't want to pursue it. 

Or maybe he didn't want it to pursue him.

Heero shook off that thought and moved on. He was a drop of ink in an ocean of dark. No one would see him, and he knew all the alarm capabilities of this place. Knew them--

His mind skipped over that train of thought and he turned his head to look at his destination. 

The moonlight reflected off the windows in front of him, and he saw the pale reflection of his own face. He stopped. He didn't know why. He just stopped. He stared at the ghostly reflection, barely making out his own features. Even as he stared at them they seemed to shift and blur.

_[flashback]'"I never want to lay eyes on you again."' _

In the darkness he felt his breath sigh in and out of his lungs. He felt the rough brick and stone beneath his hands. He felt the yawning emptiness below him. 

Heero Yuy took the memory and held it in his mind. He thought of the smallness of it, how diminutive it really was.  He looked at it for a moment longer. 

Then he crushed it.

Heero Yuy raked his ice blue eyes over the twilight landscape and moved on, melding with the shadows. 

At first he hadn't known what he was doing here. But now, as he looked in through the clear glass of the window, it came to him that perhaps…it had all come full circle.

Heero put his palm flat against the glass and looked down at the slumbering form of Relena Peacecraft.

[Hilde]

His face.

Something was wrong with Heero. 

Duo's eyes were distant and shadowed. Hilde looked into his face, the face she always wanted to kiss to chase away the hurt. He was colder than he had been an hour ago. His face gave him away. It always had. 

Hilde looked from him to Xiran and saw the look mirrored tenfold. She knew that look so well--and she hated it. 

It was what she called the Heero-complex.  You take nice little teenagers. You take war. Put the two together and pow! You get a brand new mixture! You get soldiers, soldiers who become hard and cold and decidedly suicidal. 

Hilde tried to quash the anger that rose in her. She could not be angry with anyone. War was not a person. She could not kick its shins. Could not punch its face. Could not take its small intestine and make it eat it like a Shanghai noodle. She was powerless against it. Just as Heero was powerless. 

But the Perfect Soldier was responsible for Duo's pain today. He didn't seem to realize just how much blocking Duo out hurt him. And Duo would never tell him, he'd just laugh and carry on like nothing happened until Heero did it again and—he just didn't care. How could he be like that? He—Hilde suddenly stopped. 

Duo had sat down on the bed. He rubbed a hand over his face wearily. Xiran crossed her legs, her hair falling in her face and obscuring her eyes. 

Heero had caused this, this hurt, but somehow, neither of them saw fault in anyone but themselves. 

Hilde thought suddenly, _I'm just looking for someone to blame_. _But if there is anyone to blame, it's me. _

_God, I've been such a nag lately. It's a wonder he doesn't leave me._ For a fleeting moment she thought of her mother. 

Hilde moved over to him, her eyes on the slump of his shoulders, the set of his jaw. She sat on his lap and curled her arms around his neck, her head resting beneath his chin. It was an apology. 

Silently he embraced her. His arms closed on her, two warm weights that cut her off from the world. His heart beat next to her own. She was his. He was hers. Her eyes closed. 

I am curled in the arms of my lover, Hilde thought. Who would have thought that me, Hilde Schiebeker, the tomboy, the family disgrace, would ever have something so wonderful? What kind of twisted fairytale is this? 

For a moment she did not let herself think. All there was was his arms, his heart, his love. And the word that came to her slowly was forever.

Hilde eyes came open.

What can we do in the face of war? What kind of power do we have? The pilots played the game last time and won, but they may not be so lucky this time around. Who would they lose? Heero? Quatre? Not Duo. Please no. It's so unfair. 

Xiran? 

For a moment she was overcome with her own selfishness. She drew in a deep breath to steady herself. She pulled her mind back to the bleak matters at hand and asked quietly, "What did he do?" She felt Duo's sigh. 

"He got himself in a little scuffle. He was trying to find new way to kill himself without a conveniently placed self destruct button. I'll bet he misses Zero as much as he misses someone to fight with." 

She squeezed his hand. She thought, we are all trapped by this, We can't escape it. 

But we will fight it. We will fight for our loved ones. No matter what the cost.

 "This is a dangerous game we're playing," She whispered into Duo's chest. His arms tightened about her.

"Don't worry babe, I won't let anything happen to you."

 Hilde smiled into his chest, where he couldn't see. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Hilde suddenly heard Xiran get up. Her footsteps moved towards the door and stopped. 

Xiran said softly, "We do have one last card to play." There was a note of steel in her voice, a note that Hilde remembered well. 

 "…Gundam Black Phoenix."

Hilde's head snapped up. Her skull immediately made a solid collision with Duo's chin. 

"Ow!" They both cried. Hilde fell on the floor with a thump and Duo flopped back on the bed. 

"Geez, girl, you don't need uppercuts, your head is all you need!" He said, holding his chin.

   "And I have just proven that your skull really IS that thick," Hilde retorted, holding her head. They glared at each other for a second then laughed. Hilde glanced up to see Xi watching them both, while pretending to be indifferent. Hilde smiled inwardly. Sometimes she was so transparent.  

"So, Xi…how are you feeling about letting the likes of US use your Gundam?"

She shrugged, a tentative smile rising on her face. "Well…I was hoping that you two wouldn't have to."

"Then who?" Duo asked. His words hung in the air. "…Heero, maybe?" he continued, his eyes on her face.

She turned her dark gaze on him, her gaze penetrating. "I am her pilot."

"So you are…but it may not be that easy. You're not going to get anywhere easily now, Xi. Wufei and Heero are both having hissies, and Duo and I are still…recovering. But we're the only ones on your side. Well, including Quatre. Quatre roots for everybody."

She was silent for a moment. Her face was a mask.

Slowly Hilde raised her hand to her from her spot on the floor. Uncertainty flickered in Xi's eyes for a moment, and then she extended her hand to Hilde. As Hilde's hand closed on hers, her face became less cold. Xiran pulled her to her feet.

The look that they shared was calm and even. They didn't speak.

For a moment Hilde could almost see Xiran smiling brightly, her face filled with such delight that she was oddly innocent.

 But it was only a memory.

Hilde smiled. "This will be mission one, Xi. Are you ready for it?"

Duo put in, "Are you ready for the insanity that is us?"

Xiran said, "Yes."

 [Relena]

Was she dreaming?

She hoped so. It was so dark she could barely see her hand in front of her face. Relena quelled her rising panic. She began walking forward, hoping futily that she would see some sort of light. Anything to despell this cloaking, suffocating black. Her footsteps echoed hollowly, with a faintness that chilled her heart. Just how large was this place? 

And more importantly, what could be hiding in it?

What could be in here with her?

Suddenly with a sick hard certainty, she knew that something WAS here with her. She shot a furtive glace over her shoulder. She may as well have closed her eyes. 

Relena moved sightlessly ahead with her eyes open, waiting for something to appear in the black. Relena could hear her own breath as it sighed in and out of her lungs. She could hear the swish of her skirt. She could hear her footsteps fading into the close and crushing expanse of dark. It was like a void of nothingness. It swallowed everything.

She stopped walking and the darkness swallowed even the sound of her footsteps. Her heart beat loudly in her ears. Relena fought to remain calm.

There was no one here. Stop being such a silly girl. She was the only--

that thought drew her up short. She swallowed thickly.

She was alone.

Alone in the endless, merciless dark. The nothingness of it suddenly seemed to press in on her, into her nose and ears and mouth. She gasped for breath, fear shooting up her spine and paralyzing her. A scream came from deep in her gut and--

Relena took a deep, shuddering breath and stood still. Sound faded. Fear faded. She closed her eyes, ignoring the urge to peer sightlessly around in case something was coming for her. When she opened them a desk was a mere ten feet from her, bathed in a pillar of light.

She was about to sit down when the sudden feeling that something was right there froze her in place. She realized her mistake with a sinking heart. At least in the darkness she had been invisible. In the light...everything could see her.

Footsteps.  Calm, measured strides. Coming closer and closer.

Relena caught her breath, struggling to slow her frenzied heart.

A figure emerged out of the shadows.

The harshness of the light for a moment made the person's face unrecognizable. But she knew that hair.

Xiran raised her dark slanted eyes and met Relena's gaze head on.

Xiran stepped forward farther into the light. She stopped at the pillar's edge. Relena didn't move. 

The empty white space between them almost glowed with the intensity of the light. The undersides of Xiran's features were edged in paleness.

Xiran's gaze beat on her like heat and Relena found herself tensing up.

"I'm not afraid of you." The words were out of her before she had time to think.

Xiran did not change.

She said, "What are you afraid of, Relena?"

As if I'd tell you, Relena thought. The silence remained for a long moment.

A slow bitter smile curved Xiran's mouth. The light went out. 

Relena must have cried out.

The echo faded into the distance. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the absence of light, she realized that it wasn't as dark as it had been. The ground she walked on was as smooth and endless as black glass, stretching as far as she could see.

But something was different.

A black panther sat in front of her.

It was impossibly large. Its head was on level with hers. Its sleek coat shone with muted glory; its muscles looked supple and powerful. It had a strong but narrow face...with great dark blue eyes. It was staring at her.

Without knowing why, Relena knew that it was not an it--it was a she.

"What do you want?'

Her question fell into the silence. The panther did not reply. She had expected it to.

It merely stared at her. It was unnerving. Relena suddenly asked, "Who are you?"

It didn't move. Still, she got the feeling that it had understood.

A sudden soft dripping sound in the darkness. Like the patter of a small child's feet, uneven, yet monotonous.  The sound grew closer. Xiran appeared just behind the panther, which had not twitched a whisker at her approach.

A gun hung laxly from her left hand. 

She said, "You're not asking the right questions."

The glass-like surface suddenly lit up in a bright tableau beneath her. Relena uttered a small cry as the sizzling energy blade of Wing ZERO sliced right beneath her. The image was huge, larger than the real Gundam, its eyes easily bigger than she was. Wing Zero turned and seemed to stare right through her. "Heero," she whispered, reaching out her hand. 

ZERO exploded. Relena screamed and covered her ears. The fireball roared and expanded in orange light. The Deathscythe Hell came slicing through it, scythe in hand, turned and struck an approaching Mobile Doll out of existence. Another ear-blowing explosion. Gundam Shenlong's claw retracted and Wufei blew another MD apart before her eyes. Sandrock emerged out of the wreakage, wielding both weapons and slicing mobile suits left and right. More mobile dolls appeared to take the places of the ones destroyed. An array of missiles spiraled into their front ranks. Bright orange blossomed on the front line as Heavyarms reloaded, but more mobile dolls appeared. 

Explosions rocked the air, rumbling right out of the ground. Relena fell to her knees. Below her, around her, beside her, the Gundams fought, waging war against the enemy. 

She screamed into the cacophony, "Stop fighting! Please just stop! STOP!"

The silence was like being struck deaf. 

She felt someone take her hands, lift her to her feet. "Heero," she murmured, opening her eyes. Xiran shook her head sadly. She looked haggard. "He's not here." 

Relena threw off Xiran's hands. "Why?" She cried. "Why show me that? What is the point of all this?"

Xiran took two measured steps backwards. The meager light began to fade into pitch dark. The last thing Relena saw was Xiran's blue eyes.  

Her voice was strangely disembodied when she spoke. 

"…We all choose our own paths in the dark."

Relena sat up with a scream in her throat, her hands clenched white around her sheets. She was bathed in a sheen of sweat. Her white nightgown stuck to her back. She had begun to sigh with relief when her eyes fell on a long black shadow. In an instant her eyes had followed it to the window. 

Relena bit back a scream and dived at the bedside alarm. 

Her hand was over the switch when the reality of the image came to her. Someone was at her window. With blue eyes. She couldn't deny that there was something familiar about them. 

Not believing, she turned and let her gaze travel back to the window.

It was Heero.

For a moment she could only stare. Her traitor heart leaped in her chest. Relena thought, why is he here? What reason could possibly make him come here? The answers came to her all too quickly. Some sort of trouble. Perhaps there had been an attack. And…Six of Ten. Relena quelled the jealousy that hardened her heart, but still she hesitated, staring at him. He was very still. Suddenly she saw marks on his face, cuts and bruises, and it broke the sense of uneasiness the nightmare had stirred in her. 

She opened the window. 

He stepped down lightly. She noticed blood on his shirt, but said nothing.

Slowly he turned and faced her, his blue eyes finding hers. She felt a moment of shock. His eyes…they were the ones she had seen in the war. They were blank. His face was the same.  Relena stared at him, momentarily speechless. 

Everything about him said, I don't care, but in that she saw clearly that he had been hurt.

Relena thought, That bitch. She was shocked at the harshness of  her thought, and immediately quashed it. Xir—Six—She wasn't important here. He had come to her…but for what…?  

Heero gazed at her a moment longer and then said, "I came here for information."

"Of course," Relena said smoothly, covering up her hurt.

His blue gaze rose up and then flickered away. He moved past her.  He stopped . With his back turned, he said, "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"No, it's alright." His back and shoulders relaxed fractionally. Relena wanted to ask him if he was okay, but she knew he wasn't. And he knew she knew. He would have to come out with it on his own. 

Heero hadn't moved.  He was just standing there, like he didn't know what to do.

Perhaps he didn't.

Relena said softly, "What's wrong?" As her words trailed off and he said nothing, she continued quickly, "What's happened? Is Hilde okay?"

   "She's fine."

He didn't want to talk about it. Relena drew in a shallow breath and began, "Heero…"

He turned on her. It was everything she could do to stand her ground.

His eyes were like dark chips of ice, burning with anger. 

But it wasn't directed at her. Heero stiffened and turned away. 

Relena moved forward tentatively. God, Heero. The soldier is back. But you're losing your composure…you're more emotional than I've ever seen you…is it because you were betrayed by someone you cared about? The thought was like a stab of jealousy in her chest. 

But her next thought stopped her cold. '_He's losing control. How can that be?'_

He was always the Perfect Soldier before--

--before he met you.

_' He wouldn't have had anything to lose if it wasn't for me.'_

Relena closed her eyes and fought back her despair. "I'll lead you to the room," she said, her voice calm.

He didn't look at her. He just followed.

[Hilde]

"She's confused, Duo. That's what I think."

"Well, we both know that you didn't get a psychology degree…"

"But I'm not STUPID," Hilde retorted, glaring momentarily. 

Duo looked almost hurt for a second. She immediately softened her glance and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry. You're only a boy. Boys don't get this kind of thing."

He brightened a little. "Oh, right!" he said, in a way that was far too cheerful. She [said], "Stop mocking me!" 

 He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway…" Hilde continued, "I think she's really confused. I mean, what did the military teach her about forgiveness? Oh, you scratched me. I'll shoot you. You know, stuff like that…there's no real forgiveness factor. I acted nice to her today and she stared at me as if I'd grown another head.  Well, that was after I yelled at her, but I could just…sense it, you know? She doesn't know what to do now. She thought we'd never forgive her. Ever." Hilde impulsively snuggled closer to him. "It's so sad," she added softly.

Duo sounded slightly confused. "Um…have we?"

"Ok, not yet, but we're getting the trust factor back, right?"

"Sure…"

"And yeah, she just doesn't know what to do. Ok? Ok. Got it? Good."

"Was there a point in discussing this?"

She gave him a Look. "We should just be prepared for when Heero comes back."

"Oh."

"Because she might act weirdly or something and…"

Now he was giving her the Look. 

"What?" She said.

Duo rolled his eyes at her playfully. But his gaze was serious. 

"She won't do anything." 

Her look was incredulous. Duo grinned wryly at her.

 "--Unless Heero does something first."

 [Heero]

Routine orders. Encoded information. But more importantly—new officer positions. Which meant that some had to return to the home base. Which meant that one piece of extremely valuable data had come into their hands: the location of the main earth facility.  

They would have an edge now. The hybrids wouldn't know what hit them.

Heero abruptly realized that he was smiling.  

The encoded information they would not be able to break into. It wasn't just coded—it was in codename format, which meant that they were using words that only the hybrids knew the meanings to. '_But I have a place to attack now. I know where I'm going—and what I'm going to do when I get there. _

_I have them now.'_

All at once Heero remembered that Relena was there beside him.  He wiped the little smile off his face.

His mind teemed with thoughts, strategies. It felt so right, so like it should be. He stared hard at the computer screen, his mind processing, shifting, calculating. His fingers, spider-like, flew over the keys.

Yes…they had made the hit first on Kallam…and then the Sanc, through Relena…his fingers paused momentarily.    

 He blinked and continued on. The computer screen scrolled down. The latest news. Headlines bellowed. Frontline pictures containing fire and smoke passed by. Heero saw it all.

Behind him, Relena made a small sound and said sharply, "Stop."

"Mexico was hit," He affirmed tonelessly. "Ambassador killed in his own house. The air vents were tampered with. Carbon monoxide and then some form of mercury. All servants and family dead. Found early in the morning when the next watch came in." 

Relena fell silent. He could almost feel her shock. And her pain.

Heero felt a moment of irritation.

She said, "Heero…how could this be happening so fast? The whole world seems to be falling prey to them. But all we can do is blame each other." She fell silent again. Then she murmured, "Mariemaia's Endless Waltz is more of a reality than I ever thought. What I fool I was to have such unattainable dreams..."

Heero said only, "It's war." What was he supposed to say? He had never known anything else. She should know that.

Unthinkingly Heero turned around. Relena was standing behind him in her white nightshirt, her hair down and messy around her shoulders. Her arms were crossed across her chest, her head bent, her eyes turned inward.

He had hurt her.

He had come here and asked for information. He had brushed her off again and again. Heero momentarily remembered her face as she smiled at him, so long ago. 

He had hurt her.

Of course he had. He'd been so stupid…wrapped up in his own pointless little world.

Heero stared at her for a moment longer, his blue eyes changing slightly. "It's a war that we can prevent." Her eyes slowly rose to his. He continued tonelessly, "If I can make a clean hit on this Moscow base, then we can take steps to end this war before it can begin. End it before it can gain momentum."

[Relena]

"…End it before we are deceived by the hybrid--" Relena's voice choked off for half a second as Heero's gaze sharpened and became pitch dark. "—plot."

Relena felt as if the room temperature had just dropped ten degrees.   

She thought, Oh good god. This must be what Xiran felt like.

All of his muscles had gone taut. The silence seemed shiver with the tension. He was so still he barely seemed to be breathing. He was staring at her with an intensity that froze her to the spot.

Relena held her breath and waited for whatever might come.

[Heero]

Hybrids. Hybrid. Deception.

He was staring hard at nothing, images flickering in his mind's eye. His jaw clenched. Lies. Lies!

She was just standing there, pale eyes wide. Wide because of what? Had she lied to him too? What if Duo--

Heero hissed a quick breath in through his teeth. No. Not Duo. He wouldn't. And Relena...who knew what she was thinking. 

He tried to let the anger drain out of him. He had to get control. Had to get control. When had he lost control?

Her fault!

He hissed a breath out through his teeth, concentrated on relaxing his coiled muscles. He was as tight as a clenched fist. Unthinkingly his gaze moved to hers.

Her eyes were questioning.

He drew a calming breath. He would tell her why he was so unhinged. She would understand. 

He forced the words out evenly. "Xiran--" he almost choked on the syllables, "--Is Six of Ten." 

Her eyes did not change. 

She said softly, "I know."

[Relena]

He was out of his chair and past her before she could utter another word. 

"Heero!" She whirled and caught his arm. He froze, his back to her. 

Relena choked back her uncertainty and shifted her grip to his hand. She held it between her own. 

"It's not wrong to have emotion," she said, hearing the pleading in her voice, unable to stop it.

He didn't move.

Relena drew an unsteady breath. She wasn't sure what she wanted to happen but she knew that he was on the brink of something.  Something terrible.

Suddenly he turned his head sharply to the side. His blue eyes were open and catlike in the light of the window.

He snapped coldly, "It is in war."

She felt like she had been struck. She was reminded of Xiran's eyes on the field. Of the helplessness of that day. Of the sound the bullets made as they went into Hilde.

She dropped his hand. She turned away. One hand came up to her face. Words came out of her in a whispered rush. "If I wasn't a Peacecraft...if I wasn't a politician..." Her face twisted, "...If I wasn't so _weak_... I could lessen this burden...If I..." her hands came together and clasped each other, white knuckled. "...I could end this...I would fight. I-"

"_No_."

He whirled and grabbed her shoulders. 

"No Relena. Not you."

 She shook her head, trying to quell stupid tears. She couldn't look at him.

 "No," he said again, his voice suddenly soft.

She slowly raised her eyes to his. His cobalt gaze was as clear as the surface of an ocean. She had never seen his eyes so...open. He was stronger now. Maybe she had helped him after all. He was so much more now than he was at the beginning of the war...so much more.

"Heero..." she whispered.

His mouth opened but no sound came out. All at once he seemed to realize what he was doing. 

[Heero]

He turned blindly and went for the window. What was he--so goddamn stupid---what came over-- 

She grabbed his hand again. Her grasp was warm against his skin. He stopped, felt his heart pumping in his chest. Slowly he began to turn back to her. What would he see? He didn't know. 

His gaze found hers. Her clear blue eyes were open and soft beneath her tousled hair. She said, "No. Stay." She drew in a quick uncertain breath. Heero merely looked at her, a motionless statue in the moonlight.

Her voice was soft. 

"Please?" 

[author's note: MWAHAA!! (maniacal laughter)]

[Xiran]

This was going to be bad. Very bad. And it didn't help that Hilde and Duo were acting so strangely. 

She had gotten up this morning with something like an emotional hangover and gone to their room. Her hands had been cold and clammy. She had knocked on the door. It had opened a crack, and then Hilde had come barreling out of it with a huge grin on her face. "Xi!" 

During the next fifteen minutes of frantic morning activity, Xiran had found only a few shadows of uncertainty in Hilde's eyes. Duo had been tired and stiff and a bit cranky, but he'd responded well to snuggles—which Hilde had been more than happy to supply. In general they seemed to be in a good mood. It had left Xiran more than a little confused. Uncertainty had made her frustrated. 

This was where she had left herself. She had let her emotions get in the way of her mission. Her mistakes were intolerable. Now the mission was no longer in her hands. She was in the enemy stronghold with no way to prove her validity. It only made sense to sever all the ties that had caused this failure.

"Xi."

Her eyes came up guiltily. Hilde smiled at her. Her eyes were serious. "Come on," she said. "They've gathered already."

This was going to be bad. 

Xiran followed Hilde to the main room. The meeting was going to be held there. The meeting where they would discuss war, counter measures, politics--and what they were going to do with her. 

But the council of war was not yet complete. 

Heero had not come back.

She knew that Quatre was worried and that Duo and Hilde were uneasy. Trowa was unperturbed and Wufei was completely indifferent.

Heero had not come back.

She sat down, not really looking at the rest of them. She crossed her legs. Wufei had been avoiding her all morning--but he'd been doing the same thing to Sally. Xiran stole a glance at the woman. 

Sally was standing in the middle of the room, in the center of the formation of chairs and couches. Her hair was drawn back in a ponytail. Her manner was business-like and cool—but almost overly so. Her eyes were pale chips of glass in her face.  

Wufei and Sally. Whoever would have thought that such opposites could...

Xiran recrossed her legs. 

Heero had not come back.

* * *

The meeting began with Sally.

The hybrid hits had no traceable pattern. The attacks were deliberately random--the Preventers would never know what was coming next. More importantly, the Preventers had not yet released proof of the hybrid's existence for fear of alerting them to their knowledge. But the longer they omitted this information, the larger the international uproar would be when they finally did release it. What the United Earth Sphere didn't need right now was more cause for an international stink. Economics and egos were already coming into play. The international community was like a group of classmates who were being preyed on by a sniper. They stood together to avoid total pandemonium, but the longer they stood and did nothing, the more tense they got--because no one trusted anyone else. It had only been a year since the UES was formed, and only a year since the full armistice. Suspicions were on the rise, and fear mongers were taking full advantage. Propaganda was uncontrollable--and the media was bored with the United Earth Sphere. 

"Most of this is commonly known," Sally continued, her eyes moving over the pilots. "But the international situation is more complex than the public believes. The situation could escalate exponentially if something like the hybrid threat was thrown into the mix. We have to pin down information and soon, or else some countries may take it upon themselves to defend and arm themselves--If that hasn't happened already." She paused. "What would be really beneficial to this meeting would be new, reliable information."   Her eyes fell on Xiran. She refused to let anything show. She had agreed to say as little as possible. 

Hilde quickly stood up. Simultaneously the Xiran heard the door unlock.

Everyone froze. Xiran barely breathed. '_Not a hybrid...it's...'_

Heero stepped slowly through the door. His eyes immediately locked on hers. His gaze was utterly cold. With a deliberate slowness he dropped his gaze and turned to allow someone inside.

It was Relena.

Xiran crossed her arms and forced out a calm breath. Why should she care. She should be content with knowing that soon she would face her adversary in battle. The time was drawing near. 

She suddenly realized that she was tense, energy thrumming through her frame. Her eyes narrowed angrily. 

She focused on Relena, with her blue eyes and blonde hair, and wished like hell for a punching bag.

* * * 

With the arrival of Heero and Relena, the meeting progressed by leaps and bounds. Heero briefed them on the attack on Mexico. He continued on to summarize the hybrid information. Relena sat next to him. 

Xiran ground her teeth.

Sally reclaimed the floor and outlined the Preventer's current neutral political stance on the attacks. They would not point fingers until they had more information. They had to be a symbol of multilateral movement to the rest of the world until the Grand Summit meeting of the world leaders. There was a brief silence.

"So we have to act alone," Trowa surmised quietly.

"Great," Wufei muttered.

"Not exactly," Sally responded coolly. "The Preventers will back you...but we can only provide the tools. We can't make a political move without someone accusing us of having ulterior motives. But you guys have independent political movement."

Duo grinned and stretched. "So you're saying we can do your grunt work as long as we don't tell on you. Mmm, great. We should have more friends like the Preventers."

Sally cracked a smile and put one hand on her hip. "Yes, Duo, you are going in as an 'under the table' operation. But the Preventers will come in full force if there is an emergency."

"Well, what qualifies as an emergency--" 

"—You'll come if we holler, right Sally?" Hilde interjected.  Sally nodded.

"What weapons will you give us?" Wufei asked bluntly, his brown eyes dark. Sally's face didn't change. Without a word, her eyes passed over Wufei and moved to Xiran. The unspoken suspicion hung in the air.

Hilde shot to her feet. "We know that we already have one weapon. A Gundam." 

"What?" Wufei snapped.

"Yes," Hilde replied. "It's on the coast of  Scandanavia. We--"

Heero's voice sliced through her words. His eyes were locked on Xiran. "Your Gundam." 

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes. My Gundam." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Duo shake his head in warning, but ignored it. "I'll go in myself to get it."

"What makes you think we will let you do that?" Heero's voice was low and hard.   

"Yeah," Duo interrupted hastily, "I could do it. I'm nimble, I'm fast, I'm cool, I--"

"The only way in is designed to repel someone like me." Her eyes had never left Heero's. "I don't want to be blamed for anyone getting hurt. I know the system's capabilities and limitations. This is my Gundam, my system, my risk. Let me do it."

"I can't let you go in there alone," he ground out. " The Gundam is too powerful to be put in the hands of--"

"If I can't get in there, no one will. You can throw your lives away if you want, but I will not be executed because one of you decides to play hero." She glared at him. She could see him fighting back his anger. 

_'Come on Heero, show me what you've got.'_

One side of her mouth lifted in a derisive smile.

"After all, I'm expendable, right?"

 [Quatre]

They were going to explode. He had to do something!

He processed the possibilities in one mind blowing moment. He shot to his feet, met Sally's eyes as he came up, and said, "We don't have to decide this now. We have to orchestrate an attack on the Moscow base and try to prevent more innocent deaths. What we need right now is to get organized and move out of Onyx Five." For one breathless moment Xiran and Heero continued to glare at each other. 

Then Heero calmly raised his gaze to Quatre and nodded. Xiran looked away and murmured her assent.

Quatre breathed a mental sigh of relief and looked at Sally. She was as relieved as he was. 

He looked over the rest and said, "We should move out. We can keep Xiran confined to her room until we find reason to do otherwise."

Sally nodded. "Be ready in one hour." Her eyes moved to Xiran. "We will resume in Area PALE." (Preventer Armistice Location Experiment)

Wufei raised an eyebrow and Quatre knew what he was thinking: You're gonna take her _there_?

Quatre wasn't so sure about it himself. But they had to win this war. And Xiran could help them win it.

His gaze went unbidden to Heero, who was sitting with his arms crossed. 

Heero and Xiran. They would be two of the most valuable assets to the mission--_If they didn't kill each other first._

[Author's Note: Technically...I could have cut off the chapter here...but....I refuse to divide...ok, FINE, I'll divide it. My mind says NO you can't! But logic...well, logic says DO IT. So, for now, I'll listen to logic. I want some fighting....i want some emotional pain! Buuuut....that damn logic again. I WANT to end it...ok. I will end it there. I've talked myself into it. I'll add that last scene and then move on to Moscow. Sigh. I'm sorry for all the technical/political babble. It's soooo boring. But I suppose its necessary. Gah...I digress. Screw you, logic.

[Wufei]

What the hell were they doing here? This was dangerous. This was a waste of time.  What the hell were the Preventers thinking, letting Xiran go in and get her machine? That was wildly intelligent. Here! Why don't I give the woman a bazooka while we're at it. That would make the situation so much better.  

Wufei crossed his arms and glared resentfully at nothing in general. Ahead of him, Trowa and Xiran scouted ahead, shadows against the coming dark. The northern coast of Norway was really a grand place for searching for the cave Xiran had left her Gundam in. 

Ever so conveniently, she had told them she had blocked off the underwater entry she had used initially to get into the cave, so they couldn't go back in that way. Naturally, she had reminded them of this at the last possible moment.  Lady Une and the other Preventer heads had blithely agreed to let her go in. The catch was that the pilots would have to be present. But it was still a gamble. Once she had access to the mobile suit, she could do anything.

Wufei glared at her back as they trekked across the coastline. The bluff they were aiming for was located on the outer edge of a fjord. The water crashed into the grey cliffs beneath them, providing a rush of background noise. The ocean was a huge, inky expanse of shifting sound beneath a dark sky. The moon was hidden behind great suffocating clouds. Wufei resented the fact that she had to hide it in a place so bloody inaccessible.  In fact, at this point, he resented all of Scandinavia. 

This had to be one of the most brainlessly psychotic things they had ever done.    

Ahead of him walked Heero and Relena, side by side. He wondered if Heero was doing that just to spite Xiran.

He hoped so.

 The whole situation was stupid. It simply boggled the mind. Relena was just a pacifist politician who wanted to hold Heero's hand…and Xiran was a lunatic mongoloid…what the hell…it was so moronic…Wufei was freezing…and why the HELL was Sally here?

Wufei turned now turned his glare to Sally's back. This was great. He couldn't stop thinking about their confrontation—even while he was walking across the coast of Norway.   Every time he saw her he noticed the ice in her eyes that hadn't been there before. Stupid woman. What was she trying to do? 

He was still thinking about the possible scenarios that Sally could be concocting when Xiran reached the bluff and stopped.  "This is where we go down. There's a ledge below, but it's not big enough for all of us."  Her eyes moved to Heero. "Who's coming?" 

He did not respond to the unspoken challenge. He merely stepped forward. Duo and Hilde went forward too. Wufei definitely did not want to be left out here with the stony silence that was waiting for him. He followed the others down the cliff. 

[Sally]

Running away from her, was he? Well he should. With the cliffs being so tantalizingly close, he really shouldn't be near her at all.  Sally crossed her arms and watched him make his way down the cliff. She pointedly refused to be worried about it. She fixed her gaze on the black expanse of water before her and thought about…pie. Blueberry pie. 

…_Goddamn it._

[Wufei]

It was hard not to think of a brutal, excruciating demise on the rocks below. It really was.  Not that the ledge was small, it was more the fact that he was on it with some people who might not be entirely sane. He let his gaze travel to Hilde. At least she was reasonably sane. But then she _was_ having a relationship with the Maxwell creature…

Duo? A fine example of a special Folger's brand of insanity.

Heero? He should have been put away years ago.

And Xiran? He'd bet his life that her marbles were laying around somewhere.  

All in all, Wufei was as good as dead on this ledge. 

But was he going back up there? Not a chance.

Oh, now the onna was crawling inside a tunnel in the rock. It wasn't a very big hole—Wufei now understood why she hadn't needed much extra baggage. However, that little fact hadn't stopped them from fixing a small, secret pack to her communication headset. Just one word from Sally and Xiran would be comatose.  She was going in with basically her wits, a handgun, several throwing knives, and a set of wire tools. Oh, and the secret pack. But naturally, she didn't know about that.

Wufei put his hand to his ear as the first wave of radio contact hit his receiver. He saw the rest do the same.

Heero was staring at the darkness that had swallowed Xiran up. Wufei felt like punching him—just to wipe that expression off his face. The same freaking expression that he had been wearing for the last two days.

Wufei wondered for a fleeting moment if this was what PMS was like. He quickly recoiled from his own thought. There was definitely something wrong with him. This was all Sally's fault.

[Trowa]

"I've entered the first stage," Xiran said in his ear.

"Go ahead," Trowa responded.

"Affirmative."

He shot a look at Quatre. Would this line of communication be enough to let them know if she was going to turn against them? Quatre shrugged. 

Trowa turned to look at Sally. She said quietly, "It will have to be enough." 

"Entering first area. Obstacle sighted."

Static. Her breath came faster and then slowed. "Disabled."

This pattern continued for ten minutes, with varying levels of exertion. Trowa wondered just what she had set up in there.

 "Entering…" Her voice was suddenly broken up by static. 

"Repeat last communication." He waited.

"Repeat!"

Static. He met Quatre's eyes. "Xiran. Respond _now_." 

Had they miscalculated her? 

Five long minutes passed by.  Sally shook her head. "She's either dead or betraying us."

Relena was very silent. Quatre crossed his arms. "Just wait a little longer."

Suddenly her breathing came back over the speakers, ragged and short. "…Disabled."

"Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"Are you—" 

The ground beneath them suddenly shivered. A muted rumble vibrated up from the ground. Quatre's eyes went wide. "Xiran!"

Trowa jerked his earpiece away as static shrieked in his ear. "That was an explosive," he said, wincing. Quatre ran to the edge of the bluff. Heero called up, "We're all still here. The ledge is stable." Quatre visibly relaxed. "Can you see anything?"  Heero looked up and met Trowa's gaze. His blue eyes were very calm. "No." 

Quatre was puzzled. "Why not?"

"Because the hole isn't there anymore."

"What?!"

[Wufei]

He was sure that there was some irony to be found in this situation. And he was sure that he would have found it eventually—if Duo and Hilde hadn't been so adamant about trying to reopen the hole. There had been  a slight cave in (slight meaning that the tunnel hadn't been entirely annihilated) but no one was sure 

just how damaged the tunnel was. Or if the inopportune cave in had accidentally squashed Xiran.

Wufei wasn't really worried. 

He watched as Duo and Hilde proceeded to claw away at some of the smaller debris. The mouth of the 

tunnel was obviously made of a relatively soft mineral of some sort.  

He looked up at Trowa, who had the main communicator. Trowa shook his head slightly. No response from 

her yet. She was probably already in her gundam, preparing to explode out of the ground to rain death on them all. Wufei frowned. Maybe he was being too bitter. 

He shot a glance at Heero out of pure curiosity. How was the Perfect Soldier taking this? The possible demise of a) the love interest or b) the only informant they had. Judging from Heero's 

expression, Wufei suspected the latter. 

He thought suddenly, what a moron. Being so closed off and bitter and letting it interfere with…

Wufei suddenly cringed. 

_'Oh, hello, irony. How are you today?' _

[Hilde]

Hilde clawed at the earth. Goddamn it, Xi, you are not going to die on me! Not when we were just getting close….

Hilde hurled a small rock behind her and fiercely attacked the rest.

"Ow," Duo complained from behind her. "Watch it!" Hilde flung back another rock.

"Oh, like that wasn't intentional…" she heard him mutter.

She smiled tightly. No matter how much Duo bitched and complained, she knew he was just as worried as she was. She got up and moved inside the cleared out space and began flinging dirt and rock back with abandon. She hoped irritatedly that she would hit Wufei or Heero. Wufei had been acting peevish all day, and Heero was just being annoying. He had been a walking zombie ever since he came back from Relena's, place, but Hilde was convinced that he was using Relena as a barb to make Xiran irritated. Either that or Relena was using him to…okay she was just making up soap opera fantasies here, there was no point. She really didn't know what was going on. But there was just no freaking way she was going to lose Xi! Not like this, smushed in a stupid cave-in…Hilde continued to shovel the earth with her hands, muttering to herself. Her hands were almost numb with cold, but they were leather and insulated, so she was ok. Come on Hilde! You can do this! She could be buried alive, with her spine fractured, with one rib puncturing a lung! Eeeew….Hilde cringed at the mental image. Okaaay no more of that kind of pep talk. Think positive and—

Duo shouted her name. She whirled to look at him, not sure if there had been relief or dread in his voice. He said, "Communicator!" Hilde turned hers back on.  Static filled her ears.

"…mine broke in the explosion…had to rewire it..." Xiran's voice! Hilde sagged against the wall of the tunnel in relief.

"Xiran, are you injured?" Trowa asked firmly.

There was a brief moment of static. "The mission was successful."

"Xir—"

"--I'm on the other side of the cave in now. I'll start digging…." The static hissed and the signal died.

Hilde returned to her siege on the wall of dirt before her. A stubborn smile pulled at her lips.  Hilde The Great will conquer you, you pile of insignificant, inconvenient dirt! Hah!  

She began to sweat inside her parka as she continued to work, but she didn't give up. Her hands went completely numb, painfully so, but they worked well as shovels.

Suddenly her hand punched through a clod of dirt—and there was nothing behind it. Only blackness. 

She was about to call out Xiran's name when a black clad hand slithered through the hole, palm up. Hilde grabbed the hand and squeezed it. "Xi! It's me! You're okay! You're amazing! You're indestructible! You…you're an idiot."

 She felt the hand squeeze back in response. Hilde laughed and let go. "Alright, let's do this thing!"

[Relena]

It was dark inside the tunnel. Very dark. Vestiges of the dream kept brushing at her mind. She swallowed her fear and kept going. She was one of the last to go inside. The others were all waiting in the blackness.

Ahead of her the light from Duo's headset bobbed with his movements. All the pilots had personal lights, even Sally. But she was just left alone in the dark.

She wondered uneasily about what Xiran had said to her in the dream: _We all choose our own paths in the dark…_

Relena shook off the panic that threatened to rise up in her throat and stood up. Ahead of her, Duo extended his hand, grinning as usual. It lightened her mood considerably. He lead her farther ahead. She looked around at the jagged edges of rock outlined in the faint light. This was where the explosion had taken place. Relena hadn't been able to figure out just what had been so dangerous about this place, but she supposed it was valid. After all, Xiran wouldn't have beaten herself up for no reason. Spy she may be, but she wasn't stupid. Bruising her ribs so that she couldn't overly exert herself wouldn't have been an ideal way of making herself look injured. 

Ahead of her, there were six points of light. Above her, the ceiling soared into blackness. The lights weren't powerful enough to illuminate much in the cavern. As Relena approached the others, she suddenly remembered the ominous presence of the huge black cat in her dream. She shivered. Her footsteps echoed faintly as she moved forward. Xiran turned and looked at her, her blue eyes glinting in the dark. Relena flinched, and hoped the other girl hadn't noticed. But of course she had.

Xiran stared hard at her for another moment and then her gaze slipped away and went to Sally. Sally was gazing into the darkness ahead. She murmured, "So this is the Gundam Black Phoenix…"

With a start Relena's eyes suddenly registered the huge, hulking form in front of them. The faint light of the personal bulbs shone faintly on immense edges and planes. Relena caught her breath as the oppressive, claustrophobic feeling of the dream pressed down upon her. The Gundam was black, completely black. She felt as if she were staring into an abyss.

Suddenly Heero moved forward. He looked up at the mobile suit. "I'll go in," he said. His tone of voice was firm. 

"But I thought you were going to let me pilot it out," Xiran objected, stepping forward. 

Heero gave her a cool glance, but it was Sally who spoke. 

"We never agreed to those terms. We agreed to let you lead us here, but that was all. This is in our hands now."

The look Xiran turned on Sally was completely unreadable. She turned to face the Gundam and said, "The system may be different than what you're used to, Heero."  

"I'm prepared to deal with it," he responded. He began to climb up to the cockpit. Xiran involuntarily moved a half step forward. Hilde put a hand on her shoulder.

Relena watched Xiran's face. She thought, _I won't let you hurt him again. _

_Ever_.

[Heero]

Blood. 

The console was smeared with it. 

He had stopped at the sight of it, but he shook off his momentary shock.  He didn't want to know whose blood it was. The cockpit's maw closed behind him, leaving him in this blood smeared little space. The white light of his headset illuminated more dark, foul smelling bloodstains on the pilot's chair. Heero ignored it and sat down. The silence of the cockpit was oddly unnerving. What horrors have been witnessed from-- Heero silenced the thought and reached across the dark console for the activation switch.

 He didn't care whose blood it was. He didn't care what horror had been witnessed from this chair. In fact, he didn't care about this Gundam's history at all. His searching hand suddenly found the switch. He didn't even care about—

_' I killed them! I killed them all!'_

_'Oh God! Don't! Please don't! Please!'_

_'I killed them—killed them with my own two hands…it was a massacre.'_

He jerked back in the pilot's chair, eyes unseeing, hands twitching, mouth agape. He was thrown hard against the console as another explosion rocked the cockpit and--

_'Do you know how much I hate you, you horrible, despicable fuck? I would tear out your throat if I had it in my power! And I'd enjoy it! I'd enjoy it!'_

_'Put him down! Stop! Stop it! Please! Certh! I…'_

_'SHUT UP! JUST SHUT Up! You argue for his life! I don't CARE! I hate you, I hate you,  you outcast me! '_

_'Now you will feel my wrath.'_

He jerked in his chair, blood spurting from his shoulder. The hellish sound of explosions boomed outside the cockpit. The lightwhip curled and crackled. It smashed against the opponent mobile suit, slicing through the main torso. It exploded in a blinding flash of light.

He was screaming at him, screaming obscenities, waiting for the onslaught, waiting for the blows. Come on! You know you aren't finished yet! He dodged the first punch and  attacked in a flurry of sharp, fast blows. His rage was like acid in his mouth. An arm slammed into his head and drove him to the floor.

A deep voice said in his ear, "Good. But not nearly good enough!" His head snapped forward and made a solid connection for the floor.

_'I fucking hate you, you fascist bastard! Do you hear me? I HATE YOU! HATE YOU! HATE YOU!'_

_'Don't let him come near them, I won't let it happen.'_

 "Why am I different from the others?" He felt his arms tighten around him protectively. 

"You're special, that's what you are. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise…"

_'It's okay, it's okay, it's just a little blood. You have to sink the knife in here, like this. Don't cry.'_

_'I'm not crying!'_

Still not good enough! He rolled and resumed his fighting stance, his shoulders aching.  He threw himself forward, fast as lighting, watching his opponent's eyes and--

_'Say something, please, can't you just talk to me like you used to?'_

_'No. I won't let them use you against me.'_

_'I would never do that.'_

He was cradled against him, sleeping peacefully. It was so strange. He was so small. How could such a small thing mean so much? It didn't seem right. He was weak, he couldn't fight…but he was still a person. He was still important. He didn't understand. He wasn't supposed to be doing this so then why—

_'Why are you doing this! Why do you do this to me!'_

_'Where's your honour now, Saze?! Where's your justice!'_

_'I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing.'_

He felt the bones in the girl's neck snap. He felt the vertebrates crack. He let her fall to the floor, and drew his knife, eyes narrow and wary. This was a guerilla mission. Everything had to be silent. He crept forward on silent feet, knife in hand, eyes moving constantly. He heard a faint shuffle of cloth on cloth. He suddenly knew the location of the next hit. In two silent running bounds he was in the air. He came down on the shoulders of the soldier, one hand immediately covering his mouth. The knife went into the throat cleanly. His hand was suddenly covered in blood. It was—

_'Death. He is dead…I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing!'_

_'I'll kill them all.'_

He threw his head back and screamed into the black.

[Wufei]

The silence was getting pretty boring. He was as far away from Sally as he could get but still it didn't seem to be enough. He could still feel her, still see her. He crossed his arms and glared up at the hulking black Gundam that had swallowed Heero up.

"Heero?" He glanced at Trowa. His face was typically impassive, but there was something in his voice that made Wufei wonder.  Why wasn't Heero responding? His communicator was fine, they had checked it before he went in. He eyes flashed to Xiran, who was standing next to him. Her face was unreadable, but her eyes were cold and wary.

"Heero!" The urgency in Trowa's voice was unmistakable.

"Heero!" 

Suddenly the truth of it slapped him in the face.

He whirled and grabbed Xiran's shoulders.   "What did you do to him?" He snarled. "You knew one of us would go in first! _What did you do_?"  

For a moment her expression wavered between anger and surprise. Then her eyes darkened. "I didn't do anything," she said.

"What did you do?" Wufei hissed.

"Let her go, Wufei!" Hilde glared at him, grabbing his arm. "She hasn't—"

"How can you be sure?"

"I'll make sure!" Duo shouted. He ran towards the Gundam. 

He was halfway there when the cockpit opened by itself. Heero stepped out. 

Wufei froze. Heero looked almost…shaken. 

"Heero," Duo called up. "You alright?"

For a moment he didn't respond. His eyes had focused on the person in Wufei's grasp. Then he said, "Yes. I'm fine. Just fine."

END

Hello hello hello! Here I am back from the dead! I think I beat my own personal procrastination record this time around. I'm really sorry! This took me way too long to write and it was INSANELY long. I've decided that I definitely like Sally, though, and that's always a plus. However, I gag at the Heero/Relena scenes because I normally can't stand them as a pairing. 

Man! The last scene with Heero was a little confusing, ne? Hope it wasn't too bad. Actually, I'm not as dissatisfied with this chappie as I was last week. I might even like it now. ^^

I may find it necessary to revise the chappie later on this week…but I'll post it now so that you know I haven't died for good. 

Special thanks to Riley, on-the-reserve-list-to-hell, Seeress and Shinigami Concubine. You guys rock! Hopefully I will overcome my writer's half-block and write some really dynamic fight scenes next time. ^^ The next chappie will be the attack on the Moscow base, and if I can, I'll include the assault on Facility Alpha.  

Thanks so much for reviewing, guys! It really makes a difference!

-Kywraith


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